Misunderstanding to blame for lower condom use?
Researchers at the University of Zurich have found that condom use among HIV-positive individuals in Switzerland has been decreasing steadily and markedly since 2009.
According to data from the Swiss HIV Cohort Study (SHKS), rates of condom use had been fairly stable in Switzerland between 2000 and 2009.
Huldrych Günthard and Roger Kouyos have theorised that the decrease may be due to public misinterpretation of a 2008 Swiss National AIDS Commission statement, which described how consistent use of antiretroviral drugs by HIV patients could prevent transmission of the virus during unprotected sex.
The National AIDS Commission statement stipulated that condoms need not be used as long as the HIV virus has been suppressed in a patient’s blood by antiretroviral therapy for at least six months, and if the patient is in a stable sexual relationship and free of other sexually transmitted diseases.
The statement was targeted at heterosexual couples with one HIV-positive partner who wished to safely conceive a child. However, Günthard and Kouyos found that in 2013, nearly 15% of HIV-positive homosexual men did not use condoms with casual partners, compared to 5% in 2009, suggesting that the Commission’s statement may have been misinterpreted.
Günthard suggests that another reason for foregoing condoms could be a decrease in public fear of contracting HIV in the wake of recent medical breakthroughs in AIDS treatment.
There are currently about 15,000-25,000 people in Switzerland living with HIV and AIDS. Of the 12,000 HIV-positive individuals studied, those in stable heterosexual relationships had the lowest rates of condom use, with 30% choosing not to use condoms in 2013 compared to 20% in 2009. Heterosexual couples who engaged in casual sex showed the most consistent condom use, with the number of non-users remaining under 2.5% between 2009 and 2013.
Despite these figures, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health announced on May 18 that new cases of HIV have been decreasing in Switzerland. There were 519 new cases confirmed in 2014 – a 10% decrease since 2013. The Office of Public Health attributed this decrease to fewer overall cases of HIV in heterosexual individuals.
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