Survey results show one in three respondents believe that because of new HIV treatments, HIV is no longer a life-threatening disease. Orange County Health Care Agency officials say this belief is unfounded and it shows that many persons with HIV do not recognize the seriousness of their disease. The study also found that one in four persons surveyed had multiple sexual partners in the past six months and a like percentage had engaged in unprotected sex during the same period. Of persons who reported participating in surveyed sexual behavior at least once in the past six months, 43% said they rarely or never discussed HIV before having sex, and almost one-quarter said they did not know the HIV status of one or more of their sexual partners.

"HIV treatments have clearly improved the health of many HIV-positive persons in Orange County," said Dr. Mark Horton, County Health Officer and Deputy Agency Director/Public Health Services. "The open question was whether their beliefs about the disease were also being affected by the treatments. Now, with this new study, we know. The next step is to provide prevention programs that accurately describe the impact of the new treatments on HIV and help persons who are HIV positive practice safe sex."

Other disconcerting findings were reported in the study. For example, one in two respondents said that people in general are now less worried about getting HIV. Fourteen percent of the respondents said that HIV-positive persons who use the new treatments are less likely to transmit HIV during sex. However, there currently is no solid evidence showing that use of the new treatments reduces transmission of the disease. Seven percent of the respondents said they were now more willing to have sex without a condom because of the new treatments.

HIV-infected individuals traditionally have not been a focus of prevention efforts for reasons including the belief that relatively few engaged in sex after learning they were infected. Also, advocates for persons with HIV have long argued that the primary needs of persons with the disease were medical and social services to support the final stages of life. However, new treatments for HIV have resulted in many persons with HIV living longer and feeling better. "The findings in this study leave no doubt that the absence of prevention efforts for HIV-positive individuals is a big gap in the battle against HIV," says Dr. Horton.

The study was recommended by the Prevention Planning Committee of the Board of Supervisors-appointed HIV Planning Council. It was commissioned by the Orange County Health Care Agency, Office of HIV Programs, funded by the California State Office of AIDS, and conducted by the Public Statistics Institute of Irvine. Participants in the study were clients at nine Ryan White CARE Act-funded clinics and service providers in Orange County.