Changing Sexual Habits Only Way to Stop HIV, Columnist Writes
"Breaking potentially deadly sexual habits is the only sure way to stop AIDS. At-risk individuals must take responsibility for ensuring that they don't infect themselves or others,"
Detroit News columnist Deb Price writes. She cites several recent "heartbreaking" studies that show a rise in unsafe sexual practices: a CDC
study that found that one in three black gay men is
HIV-positive, a Los Angeles County study that found that half of HIV-positive men were having sex in public places without informing their partners and "often" without condoms, and an AIDS Project Los Angeles survey that found 31% of men identifying themselves as bisexual engaged in "risky behavior, despite knowing that they were
HIV-positive." These studies, coupled with "other unfortunate developments," such as
viral drug resistance, can only point to "danger on the horizon," according to Gabriel Rotello, author of the "controversial" 1997 book "Sexual Ecology." Another author, gay writer Michelangelo Signorile, said that despite the new evidence, "[p]eople still think the drugs are a cure-all. ... Young people take risks. They don't think about tomorrow. They don't think about the consequences. ... We haven't found a magic bullet for AIDS prevention." Price writes, "Even the smallest
self-defeating habit is hard to change. Breaking free of destructive sexual practices is far more difficult," concluding that changing habits is "not easy. But it is essential" (Price, Detroit News, 2/26).
The Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report is published for
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© 2001 by National Journal Group Inc. and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
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