How Do You Know What You Know - Phase 1 (1999)

SF AIDS Foundation Unveils New "Assumptions" Prevention Campaign

Data Indicate Assumptions About HIV Status Plays Major Role in New HIV Infections

San Francisco, CA, October 7, 1999 -- In the face of studies showing increased rates of unprotected anal intercourse among gay men in San Francisco, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation today unveiled a new, multi-year HIV prevention initiative focused on the assumptions many gay men are making about the HIV status of their sexual partners and their decision not to use condoms, particularly with anonymous and casual partners.

The campaign debuts on October 11 with bus shelter and magazine advertisements targeting San Francisco's gay male community, which continues to be the community at highest risk for HIV infection in the city. Of approximately 500 new HIV infections each year in San Francisco, nearly 70% occur among gay men.

The campaign is based on studies conducted by the AIDS Foundation, UCSF's Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, the San Francisco Department of Public Health, and the Centers for Disease Control. These studies indicate that many gay men engaging in anal intercourse without condoms frequently do so based on the faulty assumption that they and their sex partners share the same HIV status. In assuming they are having sex with an individual of the same HIV status, many gay men see little risk in engaging in unprotected behavior. The data, however, indicate these individuals and their partners may be at high risk for HIV infection.

"Utilizing 'How do you know what you know?' as its theme, this campaign brings the difficult issue of sexual assumptions out in the open, asks men to think about the specific assumptions they make and then make their own choices about how to protect their health and that of their sex partners," said Joe Headlee, director of the Foundation's prevention program, Gay Life. Added Headlee, "The assumptions campaign aims to promote thought, to get men thinking about their sexual decision making and to question how they know what they assume they know."

"This is a very complicated issue for both HIV positive and negative men and it's important that we be sensitive in addressing it," noted Headlee. "Gay men have made enormous, unprecedented strides in reducing HIV transmission. This campaign builds on that success."

The campaign also promotes Gay Life's individual and couples counseling, small group workshops and community events, which provide a safe, non-judgmental environment for addressing these issues.

The first phase of the campaign will continue through spring 2000, and, aside from bus shelter and magazine advertisements, will include underground Muni and BART ads, bathroom ads and go cards.

San Francisco HIV Profile Facts and FiguresGeneral HIV Statistics*:

• 15,249 men and women are living with HIV in San Francisco.
• Gay and bisexual men account for 86% (13,135 HIV cases) of the total number of individuals living with HIV in San Francisco
• 499 new HIV infections occur in San Francisco each year
• Of the predicted 499 new HIV infections in San Francisco, 336 infections will occur among gay and bisexual men (including gay and bisexual injection drug users); 117 infections will occur among heterosexual male and female injection drug users.

*Source:San Francisco Department of Public Health AIDS Office, "HIV Prevalence and Incidence in San Francisco," 1997.

HIV Risk-taking Statistics*: 

• According to several HIV risk behavior studies in San Francisco, approximately 40-50% of gay and bisexual men report engaging in anal intercourse without condoms within the previous 6 to 12 months.
• 50-68% of gay and bisexual men who reported engaging in anal intercourse without condoms reported that they did not always know the HIV serostatus of their sexual partners.
• In a multi-city study of gay and bisexual male sexual behavior, which included San Francisco, 72% of those men who became infected with HIV during the study period reported episodes of engaging in anal intercourse without condoms without knowing the HIV status of their sexual partners.