A new AIDS education campaign will target Internet chat rooms that are popular with gay men. Last month, the San Francisco’s Department of Public Health awarded a grant for $130,000 to the not for profit organization, Stop AIDS Project. With this grant, four prevention counselors will be trained to log on and enter gay and bisexual chat rooms in order to answer questions about safer sex.

 

Prevention counselors will answer safer sex questions in chat rooms.

 
Gay men are more likely than lesbians and heterosexuals to look online for sex partners. "We recognize that at least for some gay men, this is a very common way in which they hook up with other partners," said Dr. Ronald Valdiserri, deputy director of the AIDS division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.

Unfortunately, people who find sex partners online are at greater risk for catching sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) compared with those who don't seek sex partners online, according to two studies published in the July 26th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Updated: Monday, November 13th 2000