Growing HIV Epidemic in China Among MSM

Evidence indicates that the HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men (MSM) in China is growing dramatically. To examine the prevalence of HIV infection in China’s largest municipality — Chongqing — researchers conducted surveys there between July and September, 2006 and 2007, in venues frequented by MSM. Participants (1000 in 2006, 1044 in 2007) were men aged ≥18 who had had oral or anal sex with a male during the previous year and had lived in Chongqing for the 3 months preceding the survey.

Overall, the prevalence of HIV infection increased from 10.4% in 2006 to 12.5% in 2007. For both years, the rates were more than twice as high among men recruited from bathhouses and saunas as among those recruited from gay bars, outdoor cruising ar…