Be Confident, Be Covered, the new condom campaign from Terrence Higgins Trust, aims to encourage gay men to continue to use condoms, which are still the best protection against HIV infection.

Recent research showed that gay men were unaware of the increased prevalence of HIV among gay men, which was a key factor when they decided to use a condom.

“Research shows that most gay men use condoms most of the time. This campaign reaffirms condom use, whilst acknowledging that condom use isn't easy for all men, all of the time,” Will Nutland, Head of Gay Men's Health Promotion at Terrence Higgins Trust said.

The advertising campaign will use simple messages and striking images to give basic information about condom use including: Choosing the correct condom; How to put on a condom correctly; Choosing and using lubricant; and Overcoming common condom problems.
 
"Because of the success of anti-retroviral drugs, fewer people are dying of HIV. This also means that there are more sexually active HIV positive men than ever before,” Marc Thompson, Senior Programme Development Officer at Terrence Higgins Trust explained.

"Gay men who took part in our focus groups were unaware of the increasing numbers of gay men living with HIV, and knowing the true risks they were taking was an important factor when they decided to use a condom," he added.

There are over 53,000 people living with HIV in the UK. HIV rates are continuing to climb in the UK, with 6,602 individuals diagnosed in 2003 in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. This is a 20% increase over 2002; the second 20% annual rise in a row.
 
Gay men are still experiencing the highest rates of new diagnoses of infections acquired in the UK, with 1735 cases (30%) reported in 2003. 15% of gay men living in London are HIV positive.
 
The campaign will appear across England and Wales in the gay press, gay venues and online at www.chapsonline.org.uk.