HAART NOT LEADING TO UNSAFE SEX

There has been concern that treatment optimism resulting from success of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) could lead to complacency and unsafe sex. Stephenson and colleagues studied sexual behaviour in 420 HIV positive gay men. High levels of sexual risk behaviour were reported by both groups, with 22% reporting unprotected anal sex with a new partner in the last month. Those who were on HAART were somewhat less likely to report unsafe behaviour than those who were not on therapy. The study shows the ongoing risks for transmission from men who know that they are infected, perhaps in part explained by the finding that only one in three respondents believed that HIV positive men have more responsibility to practice safer sex than HIV negative men. More interventions are …