by Rex Wockner
Gay and bisexual men in Asia are having risky unprotected sex, causing dramatic climbs in HIV infection rates, said officials attending a World Health Organization HIV/AIDS conference Feb. 18 in Hong Kong.
The gathering heard that more than 30 percent of gay and bisexual men in Bangkok are HIV-positive, while some Chinese cities report a rate as high as 18 percent, and China as a whole has a rate of 3.8 percent among gay/bisexual men.
The director of China's AIDS-control center, Wu Zunyou, said amphetamine use and Internet hookups are factors in the climbing infection rate.
HIV now is China's deadliest infectious disease, according to a new report from the Ministry of Health.
More than 8 percent of gay and bisexual men in Jakarta are HIV-positive, the conference heard, as are 7.8 percent in Cambodia.
