UPCOMING GROUP :: "BETWEEN MEN"
Between Men is a six-week discussion group (limited number of participants) for gay/bisexual men interesting in exploring a number of different aspects of what it means to be gay/bi.
This group is currently accepting new applicants for the upcoming group starting on Tuesday, August 26th.
Contact us by email or call the HIM Program at 612.348.9100 if you'd like to get signed up for our next discussion group series.
For more information about Between Men, click here!
For more information about the different HIM Program groups available, click here!
SYPHILIS... IT'S BACK!
Syphilis increases 30% in gay/bi men in 2007
About 10 years ago, syphilis was all but gone in Minnesota. In 2001, there were 5 new syphilis cases in gay/bisexual men. Now, for 2007, 114 new cases of early syphilis were reported, an increase of 30% over the previous year. Gay and bisexual men now represent 90% of all new infections here in Minnesota.
Of special concern is that 44% of newly infected gay and bisexual men were also HIV positive in 2007. “We know that someone who has syphilis is more likely to acquire HIV, if they don’t already have it, or pass HIV on to someone else if they are positive,” said Bill Burleson, Syphilis Elimination Coordinator at the Minnesota Department of Health. “Plus, there is the potential for greater health impacts and treatment failures when someone with HIV gets syphilis.”
The most commonly reported risk factors among those with syphilis in 2007 were meeting partners on the internet, anonymous sex, and no condom use.
Because it's easy to miss (most guys who come to our clinic and test positive for it had no idea they were infected!) and it's easy to get through activities like oral sex, new infections continue to occur.
The good news: it's completely curable. So if you're sexually active and haven't been tested in the past 6 - 12 months, set up an appointment today! Also, we will be having Men's Nights at the Red Door every Thursday in October offering free syphilis and rapid HIV testing.
For more information about syphilis, check out our syphilis website: www.StopSyphiliwNOW.org.
Some other resources for gay and bi guys here in Minnesota have been also been developed. Feel free to check out our syphilis fact sheet as well as the Minnesota Department of Health's website quiz "Club Syph".
IN THE NEWS
HIV Cases in 2007 Highest Rates Since Mid-1990's
The data is in... Minnesota Department of Health reports that there were 325 new HIV infections in Minnesota in 2007, up from the average of 300 or so cases Minnesota has seen over the last 10+ years. There are now an estimated 5,950 people aware of their HIV status currently living in Minnesota.
The biggest increases seen over the past 6 years? Males, ages 13 to 24, where cases have doubled since 2001 (from 18 new cases to 38 new cases in 2007). Condom-fatigue, social barriers to sexual health information and materials, depression and isolation continue to fuel the epidemic in the gay and bisexual men's community, who represent 56% of the new HIV infections among males last year.
Click here to view the complete news release.
PLAY... "POS OR NOT"
Can you tell if they're HIV-positive?
The new website Posornot.com shows photographs and short biographies of men and women ages 21 to 30, asking visitors to determine if each is HIV-positive or negative. It was launched in late April and was played about 5.1 million times by 400,000 people during its first three weeks. According to the Times, the "message is that you can't judge someone's virus status by looks, occupation or taste in music" (Stelter, New York Times, 5/19).
Posornot.com was launched by MTV and the Kaiser Family Foundation, in partnership with POZ Magazine. During the game, HIV-positive participants share when they first learned their HIV status, and HIV-negative participants talk about how they have been affected by the disease. The game also provides information about HIV prevention, as well as local HIV and sexually transmitted infection resources from CDC (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 5/1).
NEW! ONLINE PARTNER NOTIFICATION TOOL
The Internet has increasingly become a place for guys to meet sex partners in Minnesota. Internet hookups have also facilitated a number of new STD infections in the state. As a result, the HIM Program has partnered with an online software company to offer a new way for people to notify partners of possible exposures to HIV and other STDs.
This online partner notification service is called InSPOT, and is an online service available to the entire state of Minnesota. InSPOT can be used to send an E-card to your sex partners notifying them that they may have been exposed to a particular STD and forwards them on to the InSPOT website for more information on the STD in question and clinics in their area to get tested and treated.
E-cards can be sent anonymously or with your e-mail included. The service is completely anonymous and your identifying information is not collected - only zip codes and very basic demographics are collected for funding purposes.
For more information about InSPOT partner notification services, contact the HIM Program at 612.348.9100 orsend us an email.
NEW! TESTING APPOINTMENTS ONLINE
We are now able to offer online appointments for HIM Program services. Whether you're looking for rapid HIV testing, syphilis screening, someone to talk to about sexual health, or referrals to community resources, we're available!
Both syphilis and HIV are on the rise in our community, so if you're sexually active and it's been 6 - 12 months since your last tests, we're happy to provide low-to-no cost testing services for you!
Click here to set up an appointment today and get the plumbin' checked!