Most of what is currently documented for MSM is based on early epicenters of the epidemic (e.g., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and New York). Most new infections were identified in racial/ethnic-minority MSM who were younger (13–29 years old) compared to white MSM (30–39 years old CDC, 2008b).Īlthough the southeastern US is experiencing disproportionate HIV infection rates, has higher numbers of AIDS cases, has higher proportions of African Americans/blacks, and is experiencing the most rapid growth rate of Hispanic/Latinos in the country, little is known about the HIV epidemic, and innovative intervention approaches that are likely to be successful, in this part of the country ( Reif, Geonnotti, & Whetten, 2006 Rhodes, Hergenrather, Wilkin, & Jolly, 2008 Rhodes, Yee, & Hergenrather, 2006).
Hispanic/Latino and African American/black MSM had two and five times the rate of HIV infection of white MSM (115.7 and 43.1 per 100,000 vs. The analysis indicated that, in 2006, 72% of new infections among males occurred from male-to-male sexual contact, including 81% of new infections among whites, 63% among African American/blacks, and 72% among Latinos. The new analysis utilized HIV surveillance data, testing and treatment history, and the serologic testing algorithm for recent HIV seroconversion (STARHS) results to estimate HIV incidence using a stratified extrapolation approach. In 2008, new subpopulation analysis reinforced the severity of the HIV epidemic in MSM of all races and ethnicities. In 2001, the AIDS case rate for Hispanic/Latino men was triple that of white men, and Hispanic/Latino MSM aged 23–29 years have twice the rate of HIV infection of their white peers ( CDC, 2005). In a 2005 study of 5 large US cities, 46% of African American/black MSM were HIV-positive, compared to 21% of white MSM. In fact, since 2001, MSM across all racial and ethnic groups have been the only transmission group with significant increases in HIV diagnosis, and the majority of all new AIDS cases among all MSM are diagnosed in racial/ethnic-minority men ( Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2001a, 2008a). A community forum was held to develop recommendations and move these themes to action.Īlthough gay communities in the United States (US) are credited with making major reductions in, and sustaining relatively low levels of, sexual behavior that put them at risk for HIV during the 1980s and into the early 1990s, HIV and sexually transmitted disease (STD) incidence has been increasing among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the US since the mid-1990s ( Nanin, et al., 2009 Naughton & Rhodes, 2009 Wolitski, Valdiserri, Denning, & Levine, 2001). Twelve themes related to HIV risk emerged, including low HIV and STD knowledge particularly among Latino MSM and MSM who use the Internet for sexual networking stereotyping of African American MSM as sexually “dominant” and Latino MSM as less likely to be HIV infected and the eroticization of “barebacking.” Twelve intervention approaches also were identified, including developing culturally congruent programming using community-identified assets harnessing social media used by informal networks of MSM and promoting protection within the context of intimate relationships.
Participants self-identified as African American/Black (n=28), Hispanic/Latino (n=33), white (n=21), and bi-racial/ethnic (n=6).
An academic-community partnership conducted nine focus groups with 88 MSM. This study was designed to explore sexual risk among MSM using community-based participatory research (CBPR). Men who have sex with men (MSM) continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV and sexually transmitted diseases (STD).