Although Bill Gates has said that HIV may already be a controlled disease by 2030, it doesn't have to mean we should be complacent. In a recent study conducted by two of the biggest universities in the country, one website is influencing its spread.
It's Craigslist! It's amazing how this simple-looking and even crude website can be such a huge influencer in health care, especially with the increased risk and spread of HIV infection in the United States.
University of New York and University of Minnesota researchers discovered that the increase of HIV in certain communities is linked to the entry of the website in the population.
But how does it become an HIV enabler? If you can look at the website more closely, you'll see a section there that says personal ads. It turns out that this section has been used by men and women who are looking for casual sex. In fact, the use of personal ads is attributed to almost 16% spike of HIV infections in new markets in the United States. It is also responsible for more than 5,500 cases every year and a spending of $65 million.
For the study, researchers Jason Chan and Anindya Ghose analyzed several data from 1999 to 2008 across 33 states. They then discovered a very interesting phenomenon: there's at least a year's difference between the entry of Craigslist into the community and the increase of HIV diagnosis.
The researchers attributed these to two factors. One, most likely, it took time for the popularity of the website to grow. Second, it's possible that it also took a while for those infected of the disease to have themselves diagnosed.
They also think that the active participants in casual sexual encounters are less likely prostitutes since they are the ones who are more cautious about their health. Those who look for casual sex online, on the other hand, are prone to having multiple partners with no adequate protection.