Hong Kong's Other Problem: Rising Rates of HIV

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fountainhall

Hong Kong's Other Problem: Rising Rates of HIV

Post by fountainhall »

The statistics are alarming.

Between 2010 and 2016, the annual number of new HIV diagnoses in Hong Kong increased by nearly 80 per cent, to a total of 692 new cases in 2016. By contrast, between 2010 and 2017, the annual rate of new HIV diagnoses declined by 14 per cent in Asia and the Pacific as a whole.

The root cause of the problem seems to be lack of education on condom use and fear of coming out to family and friends. The findings are a result of a survey conducted with funds from the University of Warwick in the UK and the University of California, Berkeley. The anonymous online survey ran for 10 months from June 2018 to March 2019.
A total of 164 male respondents took part in the survey; 102 were Hong Kong Chinese, 56 were Hong Kong expatriates and the remainder were from the Chinese diaspora. The vast majority – 144 of 164 respondents (or 87.8 per cent of all male respondents) – identified as gay, while 12 (7.3 per cent of all male respondents) described themselves as bisexual . . .

Only about a third, or 28.9 per cent of Hong Kong Chinese respondents said they always used condoms, compared with more than half, or 56.3 per cent, of Hong Kong expatriate respondents, who said they always used condoms during intercourse.

Even more concerning, nearly one in five Hong Kong Chinese respondents said they rarely or never used condoms while having intercourse, compared with only 6.3 per cent of their Hong Kong expatriate counterparts.

Equally problematic, only just over a third, or 36.8 per cent, of respondents from the Hong Kong Chinese community regularly sought HIV testing. Expatriates were far more diligent about having regular HIV tests. More than two-thirds, or 68.8 per cent, of Hong Kong expatriate respondents said they regularly sought HIV testing.
https://www.scmp.com/print/lifestyle/he ... ear-coming
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