Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) launches a major new awareness raising campaign aimed at gay men in London. ‘Assumptions’ is aimed at men who don’t use condoms because they think they have correctly identified their partner’s status. This campaign urges men not to assume that they ‘know’ the HIV status of a new partner.

Research shows that some gay men ’sort’ potential sexual partners based on first impressions and assumptions rather than actual disclosure. Many still believe that they can tell someone’s HIV status based on a person’s appearance, or their approach towards unprotected sex. This campaign challenges men to reconsider this assumption. It also highlights the fact this strategy significantly increases the risk of HIV transmission and acquiring other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

‘Assumptions’ consists of a series of three adverts. Each advert features two men having sex and in each scenario, the differing points of view of each man are presented with one man believing: ‘He’s not mentioned condoms. He’s gotta be positive like me’, whilst the other thinks: ‘No condom, so he’s probably negative too’. The strapline of the campaign says: ‘Don’t assume you’re both thinking the same thing.’

Marc Thompson, Deputy Head of Health Promotion for THT said: “We know that some men make a decision to have unprotected sex with someone who they believe shares their HIV status - whether that’s positive or negative. The fact is this approach dramatically increases the risk of HIV as well as other STIs being passed on. We hope this campaign will encourage gay men to think about the assumptions they make about the status of their partner before they have sex. Ultimately we hope ‘Assumptions’ will reduce the number of new HIV infections amongst gay men in London.

The new campaign will run for twelve weeks. There will be adverts in the gay press, posters in bars and saunas and a banner ad online directing men to find out more about ‘Assumptions’.

The ‘Assumptions’ campaign has been funded by the Pan London HIV Prevention Partnership. Men can find out more by visiting http://www.gmfa.org.uk/assumptions.

Source
Terrence Higgins Trust

Thailand has set a goal of reducing by half the number of new HIV cases in the country by 2011, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Wednesday, TNA/MCOT English News reports. Abhisit was speaking at the opening ceremony of the three-day 12th National Seminar on AIDS, which more than 2,500 HIV-positive people, students, and participants from Thai agencies, private sector groups and international organizations are expected to attend. The seminar will focus on the government’s plan to reduce new cases by 2011 and the national HIV/AIDS action plan.

“The government’s plan, if successful, will be the result of cooperation from all sides,” Abhisit said. He added that statistics indicate that one in four new HIV infections occur among men who have sex with men. In addition, new cases among married women in the country have increased by 30% to 40%, according to Abhisit. He said that he will be involved in a campaign to promote fidelity among married couples in the country (TNA/MCOT English News, 5/27).

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