**4.2.3 UNGASS indicator N°19**

This indicator describes the percentage of men reporting the use of a condom during their last anal sex intercourse with a male partner. The goal is to monitor the condom use among MSM, as it represents the main means for risk reduction. In this case, the numerator is the number of respondents who reported that a condom was used the last time they had anal sex, while the denominator is the number of respondents who reported having had anal sex with a male partner in the last six months (Fig. 6).

UNGASS 19 with steady and casual partner was calculated. As shown in Fig. 6, the percentage of participants who reported the use of a condom the last time they had anal sex with a male partner in the last 6 months with their steady partner was highest in Barcelona (35.1%) and lowest in Prague (19.1%). The percentage with occasional partner was highest in Barcelona (64.3%) and lowest in Bratislava (39.7%).

The SIALON Project: Report on HIV Prevalence

was 2.6%.

**4.3 HIV prevalence** 

**4.3.1 HIV prevalence by age** 

compared to 7.6% of older ones.

Table 3. HIV result according to age group

Table 4. Mean of age of HIV positive people by country

and Risk Behaviour Among MSM in Six European Cities 219

HIV percentages are 17.0% in Barcelona and 11.8% in Verona. Lower percentages were calculated in Bratislava (6.0%), Bucharest (4.6%) and Ljubljana (5.1%). In Prague, HIV level

As reported in the UNGASS 23, data regarding HIV prevalence levels were calculated through the oral fluid samples tests. As mentioned before, the cities with the highest HIV prevalence were Barcelona (17.0%) and Verona (11.8%). Lower percentages were reported in Bratislava (6.0%), Bucharest (4.6%) and Ljubljana (5.1%). Prague had the lowest HIV prevalence (2.6%). The overall prevalence of HIV positive oral fluid samples was 7.9%. Previous studies carried out in some of the participating cities, came to quite different prevalence estimates. For instance, in Barcelona HIV prevalence found in previous studies using a convenience sample was slightly higher than the prevalence found in the SIALON study. The lower levels reported in Ljubljana and Bratislava in previous studies may be partly due to the different sampling

The prevalence according to age group is represented in Table 3. In the overall sample, prevalence of HIV among young people (less than 25 years old) was significantly lower than among people of over 25 years of age (3.5% vs 9.6%). This difference in prevalence according to age group was also significant in Ljubljana where no HIV positive cases were found among younger MSM, and in Bratislava where 1.7% of younger MSM were HIV positive

 **Negative Positive Total Age group No. % 95% Conf. Interval No. % 95% Conf. Interval No. %**  < 25 553 96.5 95.0 98.0 20 3.5 2.0 5.0 573 100.0 >= 25 1447 90.4 88.9 91.8 154 9.6 8.2 11.1 1601 100.0 Total 2000 92.0 91.0 93.2 174 8.0 6.8 9.0 2174 100.0

The mean age of HIV positive MSM was 36, significantly higher than the mean for HIV negative people (31.6 years). Table 4 shows the mean age of HIV positive people by country. This figure was lowest in Bucharest (27.1 years old) and the highest in Verona (38.9 years old).

> **Age group Mean 95% Conf. Interval**  Prague 32.3 28.2 36.3 Bratislava 34.8 30.9 38.8 Barcelona 37.5 35.1 39.8 Bucharest 27.1 23.5 30.8 Ljubljana 35.1 32.2 38.0 Verona 38.9 36.3 41.5 Total 36.0 34.7 37.4

method adopted and lower number of MSM recruited in the study.

Fig. 6. UNGASS indicator N. 19: MSM reporting the use of a condom the last time they had anal sex with a male partner in the last 6 months: steady and occasional partners.

### **4.2.4 UNGASS indicator N°23**

The UNGASS 23 refers to the HIV prevalence in a specific population, representing therefore the main indicator. This indicator allows to directly assess improvement in containing HIV levels among most-at-risk, namely MSM. In this case, the prevalence was calculated from the oral fluid tests performed in the central laboratory (Fig. 7).

Fig. 7. UNGASS indicator N. 23 HIV prevalence

HIV percentages are 17.0% in Barcelona and 11.8% in Verona. Lower percentages were calculated in Bratislava (6.0%), Bucharest (4.6%) and Ljubljana (5.1%). In Prague, HIV level was 2.6%.
