The majority of new infections are among men. Over 50 per cent of these are between men. But David suggests, "there is an issue around men having sex with men."
The Welsh Assembly actually commissioned THT to carry
out HIV and sexual health campaigns aimed at gay men over two years. Health
Minister Jane Hutt demonstrated her commitment to HIV prevention when
she launched the extension of the CHAPS (Community HIV and Aids Prevention
Strategy) initiative into Wales.
There were early problems with getting Welsh clinics to support the CHAPS
publicity and condom distribution initiative. But there are now successful
prevention activities in place, like the new South Wales police-approved
scheme to distribute condoms over the Swansea sand dune cruising area,
and popular Swansea gay venues, including the Waterside in the newly-developed
marina.
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When it comes to the capital, which houses about 70 per cent of the HIV community in Wales, Robert John, Services Development Manager at the Cardiff Aids Helpline, has this to say: "Wales is a macho culture populated by many valley communities. Historically, our helpline supported mainly gay male service users, especially while Cardiff Body Positive was running. [BP closed two years ago.] And it has been common for gay men to hide under all kinds of disguises. And for this reason too, to seek treatment over the borders.
"But lately, it's changed with the influx of overseas
students. We have about 27,000 students in Cardiff and we've recently
seen many more asylum seekers."
The Cardiff Aids Helpline is in the process of changing its name to Cardiff
Community HIV/Aids Services. This is mainly to reflect the fact that it
offers a huge array of services beyond simply telephone helpline. Robert
explains: "The helpline started in 1986, but since then we've changed
completely. We cover the whole of the south-east Wales area, which is
a big area of south Wales. We've got a new resource centre; we offer outreach
work, buddying services and treatment support.
We also provide a lot of training. Recently, we trained 170 midwives to help with the increased take-up of HIV screening tests."
