Report: 80% rise in HIV infections among gays

A new report presented to the Health Ministry recently indicated a concerning rise in the number of HIV positive homosexuals living in Israel. According to the report, the number of people infected by the HIV virus within the sector in the past year has gone up by a staggering 80%.

The new data suggests the gays now represent one-third of the HIV positive sector in Israel. The report further revealed that many of those infected contracted the virus by the age of 25, and unfortunate, are continuing to have unprotected sex.

The report further revealed that 95% of those diagnosed as HIV positive belong to high-risk groups, such as gay men and drug users.

According to the Health Ministry, 360 people were diagnosed as HIV positive in Israel in the past year. Some 140 of them were gay men. In 2007, only 77 gay men were diagnosed with the virus, indicating an 80% rise.

The Health Ministry said that in many cases, those who contracted the virus were only tested after the virus had already manifested itself as full-blown AIDS. The late stage in which they were tested, along with the fact that many of them continued to have unprotected sex, contributed to the spreading of the HIV virus.

Majority of those infected belong to high-risk groups (Illustration: Index Open)

Blood tests performed by the Health Ministry also revealed that 14% of those treated with the AIDS cocktail, tested positive for a new, more resilient strain of the virus, indicating they too were having unprotected sex, which resulted in the new infection.

"This is a vital matter, which requires both the Health Ministry and the gay community's attention," Dr. Gideon Hirsch, CEO of the Israeli AIDS Task Force told Ynet Tuesday.

"Knowingly or intentionally spreading the virus is a criminal offence," he added. "We're not going to have an AIDS police, but we have to stop people from having unprotected sex. Make no mistake – these numbers will only continue to rise in the next few years.

"The health establishment has to do something now, before we have an epidemic on our hands."

A statement by the Health Ministry said that "the ministry sees great significance in its cooperation with the homosexual, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities, and has been trying to form a link with the Israeli AIDS Task Force, but to no avail. The ministry has and is allocating considerable resources to the fight against AIDS and cannot stress enough the importance of practicing safe sex."