Why would these gay men put themselves at increased risk

Why would these gay men put themselves at increased risk? Actually, many factors may be contributing to this major setback in our efforts to control HIV. For one thing, there is the inappropriate perception that therapy is so good that getting infected is no longer a "big deal." For another, many individuals are putting themselves at risk because they suffer from depression, drug and alcohol abuse, or sexual addiction. While education has been the mainstay of HIV prevention, these observations illustrate that there are indeed underlying, basic problems. Moreover, these fundamental problems need to be better identified and addressed if there is to be a decrease in the overall infection rate.

With no decline in the rate of new HIV infections and an initial decline in AIDS deaths, increasing numbers of HIV-infected individuals are to be expected. Of course, this increase would expand the population that can then transmit HIV to others. At the same time, it also would increase the number of individuals that can eventually progress to AIDS and death.