THE CONDOMN CONUNDRUM

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As many as 4 out of 10 HIV-positive black men could be putting their partners at risk by not using condoms, according to research in the Journal of Advanced Nursing. The study found that many of the 40- to 65-year-olds were engaging in high-risk sexual practices, including 38% who didn’t use condoms during oral sex, 25% who had unprotected vaginal sex, and 22% who engaged in unsafe anal sex. The research also showed that men who were single and displayed fewer HIV symptoms were least likely to use condoms during sex. “Despite the worrying number of men not using condoms, 78% of those who took part in the study were able to answer questions about HIV correctly, and 25% claimed to be knowledgeable about the subject but still engaged in risky sex,” says Christopher Lance Coleman, Ph.D., of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. The findings are worrying, he adds, particularly in view of rising HIV rates among black Americans. “Health promotion messages have traditionally been targeted at young people,” Coleman points out, “but the increased prevalence of older ethnic males with HIV makes it essential for health professionals to promote safer sex and increased condom use with this group.”

The Trap 

The Trap

I wrapped myself in a mess

Thinking about it caused stress

Which isn’t good for my HIV status

The unhappy mood lowered my t cells

I should escape it by going in a shell

It would put me at ease

I could end up in a decease world

Only I don’t pass the problem

I wished I forget about it

Why dished it out with the problem?

I fished for answers and a solution

It’s causing me no good

A friend gave me food for thought

“Annoy the person and the problem.

Let it work itself out of it.”

Some stupid things get the best of me

I feel for the trap