A SFU researcher is receiving a $6.5 million grant for his study on HIV rates among men who have sex with men.
Robert Hogg says HIV rates in that vulnerable population have remained the same while other groups in the province have seen a marked decrease in infections.
“Among men, gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, [HIV rates] have essentially remained stable for the last few years,” he said.
HIV infection rates have gone down dramatically in B.C. since the height of the HIV epidemic in the mid 1990s. According to Hogg, a senior investigator at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, the annual infection rate two decades ago was in the 700 to 800 range and now that number has dropped to less than 300 in recent years.
Hogg says certain population groups like intravenous drug users have seen a marked drop in infections, but this has not happened among men who have sex with men (MSM).
He added that quality of life for people living with HIV has improved drastically, due to the antiretroviral therapy drugs that were invented in 1996. The therapy makes transmission between people less likely and allows people who are HIV-positive to live longer.