Targeting minority males for rapid HIV testing during gay pride events can help identify people who do not know they are infected and link them to care and prevention services, new research shows.
Between 2004 and 2006, T. Dowling of the San Francisco Department of Public Health and colleagues conducted rapid HIV tests and behavioral surveys at 11 gay pride events attended primarily by racial/ethnic minority men.
Of the 543 participants who said they were HIV-negative or did not know their serostatus, all were offered OraSure rapid HIV tests. Of 133 people tested, eight (6 percent) tested HIV-positive. Of them, four reported having HIV-negative test results within the previous six months.
In the United States, of HIV-infected men who have sex with men, about half are black or Hispanic, the researchers noted. Testing men at gay pride events could be a useful way to reach this disproportionately infected population, researchers concluded.
The full report, "Rapid HIV Testing Among Racial/Ethnic Minority Men at Gay Pride Events - Nine US Cities, 2004-2006," was published in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (2007;56(24):602-604).
Reuters Health (06.21.07)
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