Populations Vulnerable to HIV Infection: Behavior and Prevention

Abstract

Introduction: HIV infection is a complex chronic disease, the incidence of which remains quite high. The total number of Russians, both men and women, living with HIV continues to increase. The registered number of people infected with the human immunodeficiency virus in the Russian Federation reached 851.8 thousand people at the end of 2021. The analysis of high-risk behavior of vulnerable groups of the population will help update the problem of self-preservation and develop a set of preventive measures for the groups at risk of acquiring the HIV infection. Objective: To study characteristics of self-preservation of men who have sex with men as one of the key populations at increased risk of HIV. Methods: We used a 2021 database of men who have sex with men, all clients of a non-profit HIV service organization. A total of 3,455 men who had had sex with men in the past twelve months or those who considered themselves homosexual were interviewed. The survey was conducted in Moscow and the Moscow Region by the Charitable Foundation for Support of Social Initiatives and Public Health. The data analysis was carried out in Microsoft Excel and IBM SPSS Statistics 21.0. Results: The study has revealed the main determinants of behavior and the components of self-preservation in the study subjects. Conclusion: The clients of the non-profit HIV service organization included in the survey have high-risk behavior and various social diseases, including the combined ones, such as HIV infection, which must be considered when developing preventive measures for this group of population.