September 27, 2024 – Today, CHIPTS joins partners across the country in observing National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, a day when we reaffirm our commitment to ending the disproportionate impact of HIV on gay and bisexual men in the United States. In honor of #NGMHAAD, we are excited to share recent research on this important topic from our CHIPTS faculty. Learn more below.

In 2022, the estimated number of new HIV infections showed a 10% overall decrease among gay and bisexual men compared to 2018, this percentage is significantly lower when observing age-specific data. There is a 31% reduction of new HIV infections among young gay and bisexual men aged 13-24. A similar reduction is captured among Black/African American gay and bisexual men (16% decrease) and White gay and bisexual men (20% decrease). In contrast, the number of new HIV infections among Hispanic/Latino gay and bisexual men remained stable, underscoring the need for better insights and enhanced support for this community.

It is crucial to address inequities as we work to lower infection rates and improve access to treatment. There is a pressing need for more tailored access to HIV testing and prevention services, including ART, PrEP, and PEP. We must also focus on eliminating HIV stigma and other barriers to providing compassionate, culturally competent care.

Several CHIPTS faculty members have conducted research on the impact of HIV, the HIV care continuum, and HIV syndemics as they relate to gay men. Recent publications reflecting this work include:

Qian, Y., Detels, R., Comulada, W. S., Hidalgo, M. A., Lee, S. J., Biello, K. B., Yonko, E. A., Friedman, M. R., Palella, F. J., Plankey, M. W., & Mimiaga, M. J. (2024). Longitudinal Analysis of Overlapping Psychosocial Factors Predicting Incident Hospitalization Among Mixed HIV Serostatus Men who have Sex with Men in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study. AIDS and behavior, 28(9), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-024-04356-5

• Men who have sex with men (MSM) are at increased risk for certain types of chronic diseases and mental health problems. Despite having extended survival in the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) era, MSM living with HIV contend with aging-related diseases and complications with treatment. Consequent hospitalizations incur high costs, fear, low quality of life, and frailty.

Moran, A., Javanbakht, M., Mimiaga, M., Shoptaw, S., & Gorbach, P. M. (2024). Association of Partnership-Level Methamphetamine Use on Inconsistent PrEP Care Engagement Among GBMSM in Los Angeles County. AIDS and behavior, 28(5), 1522–1530. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-023-04178-x

• There are limited quantitative studies describing the association between meth use in the context of male-male sexual partnerships and PrEP care engagement. We assessed the longitudinal relationship between individual and partnership level meth use with inconsistent PrEP engagement among young gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) in Los Angeles.

Javanbakht, M., Miller, A. P., Moran, A., Ragsdale, A., Bolan, R., Shoptaw, S., & Gorbach, P. M. (2023). Changes in Substance Use and Sexual Behaviors After a Sexually Transmitted Infection Diagnosis Among a Cohort of Men Who Have Sex With Men in Los Angeles, CA. Sexually transmitted diseases, 50(2), 112–120. https://doi.org/10.1097/OLQ.0000000000001733

• Despite declines in substance use and sexual behaviors after a sexually transmitted infection, reinfections were high suggesting that men who have sex with men with sexually transmitted infections occupy sexual networks with high transmission probabilities and prevention efforts should consider sexual network characteristics.