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HIV/AIDS and gay sex
  HIV/AIDSAIDS is blamed on foreigners, gay men, and the devil. Last year, school children staged a demonstration in the New Juaben Municipality in which they demanded that all tourists visiting the country be forced to get an HIV test. Homosexuality itself is also blamed on foreigners, though most gay Ghanaians, if you can find them, will tell you their first experiences were with local friends, and sometimes relatives. When the devil is seen as the cause of AIDS, God is seen as the solution. A significant amount of gay men believe they are protected from HIV by a combination of spiritual practices and herbal medicine. Last November, Joseph Amponsah, Chairman of Hope Association of Nkoranza, an association of persons living with HIV/AIDS, went public to beg pastors to quit making HIV/AIDS patients fast for days on end because it was killing some of them. Though a number of politicians and clergymen publicly blame gay men for AIDS, the only form of transmission the government mentions in official reports is heterosexual sex. There are few, if any, HIV prevention or awareness campaigns targeting the LGBT community, even though a substantial amount of work is directed to heterosexuals. Because of the silence, a recent study found that while most gay men in Ghana knew HIV was sexually transmitted, many thought the risk was greatest with vaginal sex. As a result, they were more likely to use condoms with women than men, if they used them at all. Young men are especially at risk. If they have an older partner, they will do anything the adult says. Respect for your elders is an important part of Ghanaian culture. Besides, young men prefer older partners because they think they will get more presents or will be paid more. Shame When they do get sick, gay men in Ghana don't go to the hospitals for health care, especially if they might have a sexually transmitted disease. One reason is that hospitals will not treat you unless you come in with your sex partner. Gay men who can't afford a private doctor rely on over the counter drugs, or go to herbalists. Some have died of treatable STD's because they were too embarrassed to see a doctor. Talking about HIV is almost impossible here. Since we are considered criminals, where can we feel safe getting tested? Even if there were health services specifically for gay men, many say they would be afraid to use them. To those of us that struggle with self-hate, HIV seems like one more blow. If you tell a sick person to get tested, they get very angry at you and call you names like the devil and Satan. AIDS in Ghana is terrible even before death. Besides despair and illness, it can bring terrible poverty. We lose our incomes when we become ill. Already ostracised by our families, the only people we can rely on are our friends. You can contact the newly formed Gay and Lesbian Association of Ghana at gaytourghana@yahoo.com or popeducation@zwallet.com. source: the Gully Some common misconceptions about HIV/AIDS: In relation to HIV/AIDS the term MSM is often mentioned. MSM stands for Men having Sex with Men. Some think that is the same as "gay". It is not. MSM comprise of all men who have sex with men, being gays, bisexuals, experimenting adolecents, raped men, men having sex with men because of absence of women (prisoners, sailors or uniformed services like police or military), heterosexual male prostitutes etc. Misconception 1: Some believe that you don't get HIV from anal sex; that it is only easily tranmitted inside a vagina. Wrong! The risk of HIV infection is the highest with unprotected anal sex; higher even than with vaginal sex. Misconception 2: Some think you are less likely to get infected with HIV if you are circumsized. True in a way; if you are circumsized you have a considerable lower risk, but yet the risk is way too high. If an uncircumsized barebacker (=someone who has sex without a condom) is playing russian roulette with two bullits in the barrel, the circusized person is playing with at least one bullit. The risk is unacceptable, still. Misconception 3: If someone is fat and looks healthy he will not have HIV. Wrong! On the avarage an HIV infected person will not show any symptoms in the first 7 years. If he does not get tested he may even not know he is infected. All looks well. Misconception 4: HIV is mostly an African problem, having sex with obroni is therefore safe as opposed to having sex with an African. Wrong: The avarage HIV infection rate is higher in the Gay community (also abroad) than among heterosexuals. It is about opportunity. e.g. in Southern Africa the infection rate among white inhabitants is as high or higher than among the black population. It is about opportunity: as the whites avaragely have more money they are attractive sex partners to many and therefore they have access to a large number of sex partners. And the HIV rate among gays in Europe and US is on the rise again. Misconception 5: With ARV drugs HIV is now a treateble disease, like any chronical disease. Well in a way it is true, but mind: it is still not curable. Not all People Living With HIV/AIDS can physically tollerate the ARV-medicine. And people taking ARVs are still contageous to others (although their viral load will be lower) and their chance to die of an opportunistic infection is 5 times higher as for non HIV-infected people. And it is still not known how long life is elongated by the use of ARVs. Misconception 6: Oral sex is safe. Wrong! Although the risk with oral sex is much lower, especially if you dont get the *** in you mouth, there is still a chance of infection. And as with any calculations on chance, the risk multiplies every time you do it. So if you do it often, the risk gets very real. Also the risk is higher if the person you are sucking has a higher viral load. Since you dont know or can't see how high a persons viral load is, you shouls be very carefull. It is true that people who are taking ARV have a lower viral load and are therefore less contageous, But less is not safe. Although research has not been done yet in Ghana (because the topic is so taboo) it is safe to assume that the HIV infection rate in Ghana among homosexuals is (relatively) much higher, probably several times higher, than among heterosexuals. If the rate among heteros is around 3% average, the rate among MSM may well be over 25%. So although in Ghana the absolute number of Heterosexuals infected by HIV is much higher than the absolute number of HIV-positive Homosexuals, the risk of meeting an HIV-positive partner among Homosexuals is significantly higher; maybe one in four. So always be careful: use a rubber...!!!! Having said that, of course there is no need at all to become paranoia about friends who are HIV-positive. If you have a partner who is HIV-positive you can still have sex. As long as you are aware of the risks and practice safe sex and protect yourself with a good condom and use a water-based lubricant it is OK. interesting links: http://www.thegully.com/essays/gaymundo/0403_gay-men_hiv_ghana/msm_ghana_intro_summary.html  |  HIV infection rates among gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM) in "some African countries are 10 times that of the general male population, and stigma, poor access to treatment or testing are to blame," according to a Lancet study published online on Monday, AFP/China Post reports. University of Oxford researchers looked at published studies to examine HIV prevalence rates between 2003 and 2009. "The difference varies a lot across Africa, but in most of the countries studied," MSM HIV prevalence rates "were substantially higher than among heterosexuals," writes AFP/China Post (7/20). The higher prevalence is "driven by cultural, religious and political unwillingness to accept [MSM] as equal members of society," according to the study, BBC reports. Lead researcher Adrian Smith said there was "profound stigma and social hostility at every level of society concerning either same-sex behaviours amongst men, or homosexuality," adding that as a result, "this group becomes extremely hard to reach" (7/20). The study "stressed that the risks were not limited to gays, as many MSM also have sex with women," AFP/China Post writes (7/20). This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved. Article about the most recent meeting on MSM and HIV in Ghana in which an increase in MSM relations in Ghana is being reported. Discussion on HIV/AIDS in sub-saharan Africa on Global Voices Online. And another article about HIV-infection rate among MSM being 10 x higher than heterosexual infection rate in subsharan Africa. Very good blog story about sex workers in Kenya dealing with HIV africa save africa,let africa change the attitudes of africa,(africans)dont let another brother and sister and child of africa die,africa the black shining star of all africa,we will win aganist hiv/aid, please post,this is your slogo for africa,and the world,use it.frederick-kwaku,african dancer, Article about effects of HIV/AIDS strategy for MSM on gay rights issues and decriminalisation in Malawi. Podcast about HIV/AIDS in Asia Pacific and how they use HIV/AIDS campaign to break open the discussion on homosexuality MSM. |
andy.shilongo |
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Keyword tags:
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| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | ||
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| andy.shilongo | Sad | 0 | Jul 20 2009, 2:56 PM EDT by andy.shilongo | ||
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Thread started: Jul 20 2009, 2:56 PM EDT
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to andy from frederick-kwaku.i am sad about what i am reading about the sickness,the word the world dont want to mention, hiv-aids,in ghahna,(we all must do some things)as gay man,i know i must do some things to help an i will,....please post,,its a sad thing to lose one african brother,...we must help our african brothers (all)of them.it a sad thing.to lose one an african brother,a dark man of love,AFRICA MUST SAVE AFRICA,(AFRICAN) GHANA,its -gay-male its men ,his beautith and soul is of the sun-the dark shining sun-his smile, we cant lose another african brother,please post-from frederick taylor-kwaku,of the frederick taylor dance theatre in america, thank you ,
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| andy.shilongo | Unprotected anal sex | 0 | Dec 13 2008, 3:26 AM EST by andy.shilongo | ||
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Thread started: Dec 13 2008, 3:26 AM EST
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If you have unprotected anal intercourse with someone who is HIV positive, you have avaragely about 33% chance to get infected too. If you are circumsized the percentage will be slightly lower. But that is statistic calculations. Each case is different. If your sex partner has a high viral load (something you can not see and which is dependent on how long he has been infected and if he uses ARVs or not) the risk can be much higher. So why take that risk. One fuck without a condom with a partner who is HIV positive, the risk is higher than playing russion roulette with only one bullet in the revolver. If you have sex more than once the risk will rappidly approach 98%. Would you pul the trigger of the gun if you knew there were 5 bullits in it? So then why do you fuck without a condom???
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