The Center for Disease Control (CDC) just released the information below, which must be disseminated in public high schools. In light of the astonishing HIV infection rates among men who have sex with men, all public high schools have an obligation to make students aware of these statistics, so that they understand fully how dangerous homosexual acts are.

IFI is urging all parents to send this information to their school administrators and health teachers and to ask whether health teachers are sharing this information with students.

“Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) represent approximately 2% of the US population, yet are the population most severely affected by HIV and are the only risk group in which new HIV infections have been increasing steadily since the early 1990s. In 2006, MSM accounted for more than half (53%) of all new HIV infections in the United States, and MSM with a history of injection drug use (MSM-IDU) accounted for an additional 4% of new infections. At the end of 2006, more than half (53%) of all people living with HIV in the United States were MSM or MSM-IDU. Since the beginning of the US epidemic, MSM have consistently represented the largest percentage of persons diagnosed with AIDS and persons with an AIDS diagnosis who have died.”

New HIV Infections

• In 2006, more than 30,000 MSM and MSM-IDU were newly infected with HIV.
• Among all MSM, whites accounted for nearly half (46%) of new HIV infections in 2006. The largest number of new infections among white
• MSM occurred in those aged 30-39 years, followed by those aged 40-49 years.
• Among all black MSM, there were more new HIV infections (52%) among young black MSM (aged 13-29 years) than any other racial or ethnic age group of MSM in 2006. The number of new infections among young black MSM was nearly twice that of young white MSM and more than twice that of young Hispanic/Latino MSM.
• Among all Hispanic/Latino MSM in 2006, the largest number of new infections (43%) occurred in the youngest age group (13-29 years), though a substantial number of new HIV infections (35%) were among those aged 30-39 years.

HIV and AIDS Diagnoses and Deaths

• A recent CDC study found that in 2008 one in five (19%) MSM in 21 major US cities were infected with HIV, and nearly half (44%) were unaware of their infection….
• In 2007, MSM were 44 to 86 times as likely to be diagnosed with HIV compared with other men, and 40 to 77 times as likely as women.
• From 2005-2008, estimated diagnoses of HIV infection increased approximately 17% among MSM. This increase was likely due to a combination of factors: increases in new infections, increased testing, and diagnosis earlier in the course of infection; it may also have been due to uncertainty in statistical models….
• By the end of 2007, an estimated 282,542 MSM with an AIDS diagnosis had died in theUnited Statesand 5 dependent areas (emphasis added).

Source: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/msm/index.htm