July 21, 2005

Surprise?! HIV Is Down In San Francisco

Thursday, July 21, 2005—Remember the second wave of HIV infections that was supposed to be sweeping through the gay male community? Well, that’s over—at least in the gay mecca—according to a federal study that suggests the rate of new San Francisco HIV infections has nearly halved since 2001. Are crystal-meth-prevention campaigns finally working? Or as PWA activist Michael Petrelis, the local accuracy-in-stats champion, has been saying, has this been the trend for a while, and have the city and nonprofits intentionally ignored it? Whatever the story, surveys collected by Stop AIDS Project and city clinics confirm the drop. We say, keep it up, San Fran.