HIV Continues To Spike In NYC's Young

Young men who have sex with men are contracting HIV at a rate 33% higher than five years ago, according to recent figures released by the NYC Health Department. For men who have sex with men (MSM), the under 30 age group experienced almost 500 reported new cases of HIV last year, versus 374 in 2001.

Perhaps even more frightening, cases among MSM in the 13-19 age group doubled. Black and Hispanic men contracted HIV at a rate much higher than whites, double for blacks and more than 50% more for Hispanics. More than 90% of new HIV cases among MSM under 20 were black or Hispanic. One tiny bit of good news: the annual number of new cases in older MSM declined by 22%. In Manhattan, the new cases are centered in East and Central Harlem, Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen.

Debra Frasier-Howe, president of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS, called the latest numbers "devastating." Frasier-Howe pleads, "We must ask all New Yorkers to accept some responsibility for helping our young people protect themselves. Their lives are not dispensable."

NYC is now distributing more than 3 million free condoms a month. Every gay hook-up site promotes safer sex, usually on their main page. Every bar and nightclub has a bucket of free condoms by the door, usually near a stack of safer sex brochures. We have subway ads, bus shelter ads, public service announcements on television and radio. The black churches have come miles in their stance about MSM. Nothing is working. Society is evolving too slowly to save these kids. Of course, the advances in HIV therapy are somewhat at play in making HIV less feared, but somebody has GOT to come up with a new idea.

UPDATE: Eric Leven, whom I consider to be one of the brightest stars of young gay activism in NYC, reacted to this post on his blog, KnuckleCrack. There, you'll find an HIV prevention spot that Eric wrote, produced, and directed. Rather than repost the video here, I'd like you to visit Eric's blog and give him some feedback. And yes, that's the same Eric Leven whose photo thousands of you embiggened in the Blowoff post further down on JMG. (My click-tracker tells me these things.)