HIV/AIDS Diagnoses Rise Among Homosexually Active Men

Special Report - July 9, 2008
The number of homosexually active men diagnosed with HIV/AIDS continues to increase nationwide, including in North Carolina, according to the latest report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The report, “Trends in HIV/AIDS Diagnoses Among Men Who Have Sex With Men (MSM), 33 States, 2001-2006,” was published in the June 27, 2008 issue of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). According to the CDC, an estimated 214,379 people in 33 states were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS between 2001-2006. Of these, MSM accounted for 46 percent, and MSM “who engaged in illicit injection-drug use” (MSM and IDU) accounted for four percent. The report notes that while the number of HIV/AIDS diagnoses decreased among all other transmission categories during 2001-2006, an increase of 8.6 percent occurred in MSM, who accounted for 63 percent of all male HIV/AIDS cases in 2001-2006. Among young black MSM between the ages of 13 and 24, the number of HIV/AIDS diagnoses increased 93.1 percent during this time period. The report notes that, “approximately twice as many (7,658) [HIV/AIDS] diagnoses occurred in black MSM aged 13-24 as in their white counterparts (3,221).”

“During 2001—2006, male-to-male sex remained the largest HIV transmission category in the United States and the only one associated with an increasing number of HIV/AIDS diagnoses,” the CDC report states. The report also noted that during this period, “statistically significant decreases in HIV/AIDS diagnoses were observed for all other transmission categories,” noting that “[a]mong MSM aged 13 to 24 years, statistically significant increases in diagnoses were observed in nearly all racial/ethnic populations.”

Commenting on the report, North Carolina Family Policy Council director of research, Matt Lytle, said, “As this latest report from the CDC confirms, homosexually active men continue to account for the largest proportion of new HIV/AIDS cases in the United States. Despite how it is misrepresented by homosexual activists and their allies in the media, homosexual sex, especially among men, is contrary to nature and is therefore a dangerous activity that damages the body and puts individuals at risk for serious health problems, including death.”

To read more about the risks of homosexuality, go here to read the North Carolina Family Policy Council’s paper, “The Physical Health Risks of Homosexuality,” which appeared in the July/August 2007 issue of Family North Carolina.

Copyright © 2008. North Carolina Family Policy Council. All rights reserved.