Hong Kong Health Official Says Internet Cruising Driving Up HIV Rate

A Hong Kong health official points to the Internet as a prime component in a rise of new HIV cases.

The World Health Organization heard from Hong Kong Health Director P. Y. Lam that gay men are using the Internet more often to meet sex partners. Lam also said that men who arrange for liaisons via the net tend not to engage in safer sex practices, according to a story posted yesterday at 365Gay.com.

The WHO meeting, which took place in South Korea, heard from Lam that Hong Kong's health officials had pinpointed three "clusters" of HIV infections that stemmed from using the Internet to cruise for sex.

One of those clusters comprised over fifty men who had been infected by a single individual.

In a subsequent radio interview with a Hong Kong station, Lam said, "In this information age they find new ways to meet each other and have relationships sometimes on a very casual basis, while condom use is very low."

Lam recommended that the government take the lead in disseminating facts about safer sex practices and HIV / AIDS.

But in Hong Kong, where the police have a reputation for treating gays roughly, such efforts may prove difficult to implement, the 365Gay story said.

According to officials, Hong Kong--a city of nearly seven million--sees around 400 new cases of HIV infection every year, with a total of over 3,000 residents living with HIV and 900 living with AIDS.

But the UN, among other international organizations, have suggested the picture may in fact be still worse, saying that the government's numbers may underestimate the extent of the health crisis.