Arab men who have sex with men (AMSM) are becoming visible
in society, and reports of HIV infection and sexually transmitted infections
(STIs) are emerging.
The questionnaires were completed by 342 (16.2%) AMSM and
1775 (83.8%) Jewish MSM (JMSM) in 2012. AMSM were more likely to be religious, 'closeted'
and married than JMSM; their knowledge regarding HIV transmission was inferior
and attitudes towards condom use were less favourable. AMSM reported less
alcohol and drug use than JMSM, were more likely to be attracted to and have
sex with women, and reported a greater number of sexual partners and more unprotected anal sex (UAI).
Being AMSM was a predictive variable for UAI in the multivariate model. While
178 AMSM (52.0%) reported that most of their close friends were JMSM, 251
(73.4%) had only/mostly sexual encounters with JMSM. Among JMSM, 41 (2.3%)
reported that their close friends were AMSM, and 308 (17.3%) had only/mostly
sexual encounters with AMSM.
The knowledge of AMSM regarding HIV transmission and their
attitudes towards condom use were less favourable than those of JMSM, and they
performed more UAI. AMSM may benefit from targeted interventions, including
reconciling their same-sex attraction in positive terms. Same-sex attraction
and gay identity may provide common ground to strengthen Arab-Jew communication
in Israel.
By: Mor Z1,2, Grayeb E3,4, Beany A5.
- 1Department of Tuberculosis and AIDS, Ministry of Health, Jerusalem, Israel.
- 2Ramla Department of Health, Ministry of Health, Ramla, Israel.
- 3Bone Marrow Transplantation Department, Hadassah Medical Centre, Jerusalem, Israel.
- 4Al-Qaws for Sexual and Gender Diversity in the Palestinian Society, Jerusalem, Israel.
- 5Department of Internal Medicine C, Bnai Zion Medical Centre, Haifa, Israel.
No comments:
Post a Comment