* In a study of gay men between the ages of 18-29, it was found that 18% of the 425 men were already infected
* 21% of young African-American gay men are infected with HIV
* Young gay men are at a high risk for infection because of the high rates of unsafe sex they engage in
* In a survey, 43% of gay men between the ages of 18-25 reported that they had had unprotected anal intercourse during the last 6 months
* In San Francisco, a phone survey showed that 44% of gay men under 30 years of age had unprotected anal intercourse during the previous year in contrast to 18% of men over 30 years old
* Young gay men often associate HIV with older gay men and feel safe having unprotected sex with other young gay men
* Another risk factor is that young gay men tend to have high numbers of partners and are willing to explore different activities
* Also, young gay men may feel like they are unable to talk to their partner about low-risk sex
* Young gay men may at first be more worried about peer acceptance and companionship than health, which makes them more vulnerable to infection
* Effective strategies that reduce the risk in gay men include individualized counseling, peer education, and referrals to drug, counseling and health services
* An intervention that included a variety of social, outreach, and small group activities reported a drop from 40% to 31% in the rate of unprotective anal intercourse
* Media approaches such as ads in magazines that promote HIV prevention peer support groups received a lot of attention and use by young gay men who were hiding their sexuality
* HIV prevention must include the issues that affect young gay men such as, self-esteem, coming out, substance use, and social needs.
* Also, prevention must occur early on and be on-going