September 27, 2017

September 27th is National Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

READ TIME: 7 MIN.

National Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is observed each year on September 27 to direct attention to the continued disproportionate impact of HIV and AIDS on gay and bisexual men in the United States.

Gay and bisexual men are more severely affected by HIV than any other group in the United States. From 2005 to 2014, HIV diagnoses decreased in the United States by 19% overall, but increased 6% among all gay and bisexual men, driven by increases among African American and Hispanic/Latino gay and bisexual men. Over the past 5 years (2010-2014), the increase in HIV diagnoses among all gay and bisexual men was less than 1%, although progress has been uneven among races/ethnicities.

Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men made up an estimated 2% of the population but 55% of people living with HIV in the United States in 2013. If current diagnosis rates continue, 1 in 6 gay and bisexual men will be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime, including 1 in 2 black/African American gay and bisexual men, 1 in 4 Hispanic/Latino gay and bisexual men, and 1 in 11 white gay and bisexual men. But these rates are not inevitable. We have more tools to prevent HIV than ever before.

Prevention

CDC's Start Talking. Stop HIV. campaign encourages open discussion between sex partners and friends about a range of HIV prevention strategies. Use campaign resources�to start talking about testing, your status, condoms, PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis), and medicines that treat HIV.

Today, more tools than ever are available to prevent HIV. In addition to abstinence, limiting your number of sexual partners, never sharing needles, and using condoms the right way every time you have sex, you may be able to take advantage of newer medicines such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP).

If you are living with HIV, there are many actions you can take to prevent passing it to others. The most important is taking medicines to treat HIV (called antiretroviral therapy, or ART) the right way, every day. They can keep you healthy for many years and greatly reduce your chance of transmitting HIV to your partners.

Use condoms the right way every time you have sex, take medicines to prevent or treat HIV if appropriate, choose less risky sexual behaviors, get tested for other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and limit your number of sex partners. The more of these actions you take, the safer you can be.

Specifically, you can:

  • Use condoms the right way every time you have sex. Learn the right way to use a male condom.
  • Reduce your number of sexual partners. This can lower your chances of having a sex partner who will transmit HIV to you. The more partners you have, the more likely you are to have a partner with HIV whose viral load is not suppressed or to have a sex partner with a sexually transmitted disease. Both of these factors can increase the risk of HIV transmission.
  • Talk to your doctor about pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), taking HIV medicines daily to prevent HIV infection, if you are at very high risk for HIV. PrEP should be considered if you are HIV-negative and in an ongoing sexual relationship with an HIV-positive partner. PrEP also should be considered if you aren't in a mutually monogamous relationship with a partner who recently tested HIV-negative, and you are a:
    o gay or bisexual man who has had anal sex without a condom or been diagnosed with an STD in the past 6 months;
    o man who has sex with both men and women; or
    o heterosexual man or woman who does not regularly use condoms during sex with partners of unknown HIV status who are at very high risk of HIV infection (for example, people who inject drugs or women who have bisexual male partners).
  • Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) means taking HIV medicines after being potentially exposed to HIV to prevent becoming infected. If you're HIV-negative or don't know your HIV status and think you have recently been exposed to HIV during sex (for example, if the condom breaks), talk to your health care provider or an emergency room doctor about PEP right away (within 3 days). The sooner you start PEP, the better; every hour counts. If you're prescribed PEP, you'll need to take it once or twice daily for 28 days. Keep in mind that your chance of getting HIV is lower if your HIV-positive partner is taking medicine to treat HIV infection (called antiretroviral therapy, or ART) the right way, every day and his or her viral load remains suppressed (see Can I get HIV from someone who is HIV-positive but has an undetectable viral load?).
  • Get tested and treated for other STDs and encourage your partners to do the same. If you are sexually active, get tested at least once a year. Having other STDs increases your risk for getting or transmitting HIV. STDs can also have long-term health consequences. Find an STD testing site.
  • If you're HIV-negative and your partner is HIV-positive, encourage your partner to get and stay on treatment. If taken the right way, every day, the medicine to treat HIV (ART) reduces the amount of HIV (called "viral load") in the blood and elsewhere in the body to very low levels. This is called "viral suppression." Being virally suppressed is good for an HIV-positive person's overall health and greatly reduces the chance of transmitting the virus to a partner.
  • Choose less risky sexual behaviors. HIV is mainly spread by having anal or vaginal sex without a condom or without taking medicines to prevent or treat HIV.

    If you are at very high risk for HIV from sex or injecting drugs, taking HIV medicines daily, called pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP), can greatly reduce your risk of HIV infection. You can combine additional strategies with PrEP to reduce your risk even further.

    Federal guidelines recommend that PrEP be considered for people who are HIV-negative and at very high risk for HIV. This includes anyone who is in an ongoing sexual relationship with an HIV-positive partner. It also includes anyone who:

  • Is not in a mutually monogamous* relationship with a partner who recently tested HIV-negative, and
  • Is a
    o gay or bisexual man who has had anal sex without a condom or been diagnosed with an STD in the past 6 months;
    o man who has sex with both men and women; or
    o heterosexual man or woman who does not regularly use condoms during sex with partners of unknown HIV status who are at substantial risk of HIV infection (for example, people who inject drugs or women who have bisexual male partners).

    PrEP is also recommended for people who've injected drugs in the past 6 months and have shared needles or works or been in drug treatment in the past 6 months.

    If you have a partner who is HIV-positive and are considering getting pregnant, talk to your doctor about PrEP. It may be an option to help protect you and your baby.

    PrEP involves daily medication and regular visits to a health care provider.

    Learn more about how to protect yourself, and get information tailored to meet your needs from CDC's HIV Risk Reduction Tool.

    Get Tested

    More than 600,000 gay and bisexual men are living with HIV in the United States -- 17% of them don't know it. CDC recommends that everyone between the ages of 13 and 64 get tested for HIV at least once as part of routine health care and that people with certain risk factors�get tested more often.

    Find a testing location in your area:

  • Use the Act Against AIDS testing locator
  • Text your ZIP code to "KNOW IT" (566948)
  • Call 1-800-CDC-INFO
  • Talk to your doctor or health care provider
  • Purchase a home HIV test at a pharmacy or drug store

    Get Involved

  • Change your Facebook profile picture using the Start Talking. Stop HIV. Facebook frame on September 20.
  • Use these social media graphics and sample messages!
  • Help get #NGMHAAD and #StartTalkingHIV trending on social media by sharing and retweeting awareness day messages or creating your own.
  • Follow Act Against AIDS on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
  • Follow Start Talking. Stop HIV. on Facebook.

    Here are some sample posts:

    o 9/27 is Nat'l Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Show your support with #StartTalkingHIV's FB profile frame #NGMHAAD http://bit.ly/2vUMouy
    o #StartTalkingHIV for #NGMHAAD. Encourage your partners and friends to join the conversation. http://bit.ly/2cPGpiC
    o For #NGMHAAD, #StartTalkingHIV prevention: testing, condoms, PrEP, and medicines that treat HIV. gov/StartTalking
    o Over 600,000 gay & bisexual men are living w/HIV in the US & 17% don't know it. For #NGMHAAD, #StartTalkingTesting http://bit.ly/2koXwOr
    o Today is Nat'l Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Learn about the best prevention options for you. gov/StartTalking #NGMHAAD #StartTalkingHIV

    • Read These Next