President Obama’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 federal budget request, released in March, 2014, includes an estimated $30.4 billion for combined domestic and global HIV efforts. Domestic HIV is funded at $24.2 billion and global at $6.2 billion in the request. The FY 2015 request represents a 2.3% increase ($685 million) over FY 2014 levels, which totaled $29.7 billion. Despite this, HIV rates among gay men continue to rise:
In December 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released startling new data that showed HIV was still plaguing the gay community. While new HIV infections had remained steady in the general public between 2008 and 2010, infections had risen by an incredible 22% in young gay men. Gay men represented two-thirds of new infections. And nearly 6,000 gay men were dying of AIDS every year. According to the CDC, if HIV continues to spread at its current rates, more than half of college-aged gay men will have HIV by the age of 50. When broken down by age group, the CDC reported that new infections among the youngest MSM, aged 13-24, increased from 7,200 infections in 2008 to 8,800 in 2010, which translates into a 22% increase in that time span. According to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation: there is roughly one new HIV infection in San Francisco every day, and more than 7,000 infections annually in California. Currently 1.1 million Americans are living with HIV. Gay and bisexual men and African-Americans continue to bear the brunt of new HIV infections. The foundation’s Castro clinic, Magnet, provides more than 15,000 HIV tests and STI screenings every year to gay and bisexual men, who represent 85% of new HIV infections in San Francisco. Although MSM represent about 7% (most estimates places this percentage at more like 4%) of the male population in the United States, in 2010 MSM accounted for 78% of the new HIV infections among males. Why? With more and more money being throw towards a problem that is increasingly becoming a predominantly gay male issue in The United States, why do infections continue to rise?
The answer can be found in a CDC report which analyzed data from the National HIV Surveillance System (NHSS) to estimate the percentage of HIV diagnoses among MSM by area of residence and data from the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance System (NHBS) to estimate unprotected anal sex in the past 12 months among MSM in 2005, 2008, and 2011. This report describes the results of these analyses: “The percentage of MSM reporting unprotected anal sex at least once in the past 12 months increased from 2005 to 2011, from 48% in 2005, to 54% in 2008, and 57% in 2011.” Therefore, this is not a matter of miss-education, or even under-education, concerning the risk associated with HIV and how it is most likely transmitted. According to a study performed by The Psychology Department, University at Illinois at Chicago: “MSM constitute 64% [referring to 2008 CDC report] of the adult and adolescent men with HIV, and despite widespread knowledge of modes of HIV transmission, HIV incidence rates remain high in this group. At the same time, converging empirical evidence points to higher rates of depression in men who have sex with men (MSM) compared to non-MSM. In an extensive mental health study conducted in the Netherlands, the 12-month and lifetime prevalence of major depression and dysthymia (i.e., less severe, chronic depression) was nearly three times as high in MSM as in non-MSM, and national household and population-based studies in the United States demonstrate similar findings. Given the high rates of depression in this community, we examined the link that depression may have with HIV infection among MSM.” The results: “This sample of MSM reported a high level of sexual activity. Over half (56%) of the men had five or more sexual partners in the past three months, and 10% reported more than 20 partners. Participants also reported high levels of transmission risk. 72% of the sample had at least one transmission risk partner in the past three months, defined as having a UAI partner of serodiscordant or unknown HIV status. The average number of transmission risk partners was close to three. Depression and Transmission Risk Entering depression as a continuous variable into a standard regression equation revealed a significant…linear association of depression and transmission risk. As depression increased, so did risk…These findings suggest that escape coping processes and mental health, generally, are important to understanding sexual behavior among high risk MSM. Given the ongoing spread of HIV, prevention efforts targeting depression and psychosocial vulnerability should be developed and tested.”
Author’s note: Increasing the amount of spending given to HIV education programs will not, and has not, decreased the number of new HIV infections. Why? Because the US government, especially the current liberal administration, fatally misinterprets HIV as a sociobiological question stemming from a lack of instruction and understanding; even as a result of discrimination or homophobia; when, in reality, it is a deeply psychological wound, as well as spiritual crisis, within the gay community. Instead of facing this, they endlessly pander to the militant elitist gay base; while young gay men continue to become infected and eventually die. No amount of social engineering (most notably gay marriage) will change this fact. Since, the psychological drive which forces many gay men to constantly put their lives at risk - is a complex and difficult one to unravel that is soundly rooted in the dynamics of the family and childhood experiences; but, one that is completely achievable. Until this is accepted, men will go on dying for no reason.
Link to University at Illinois at Chicago study:
http://indigo.uic.edu/bitstream/handle/10027/8146/aids.pdf?sequence=1