The latest data from the Public Health Agency of Canada reveal that gay men continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV. In 2002, an estimated 40 per cent of new HIV infections in Canada were among men who have sex with men, compared to 30 per cent in 1996. Which raises the question: is unsafe sex on the rise?

The answer, according to a national HIV prevention campaign being spearheaded by AIDS Vancouver, is a resounding NO!

«Gay Men Play Safe» was launched on September 12, 2005, in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montréal and Halifax, with the goal of challenging the widely held perception that gay men suffer from condom-use fatigue and apathy. Using the humorous tag line, «Whatever you call it, thanks for keeping it safe,» the campaign aims to validate and support gay men's safer sex practices while reinforcing the fact that sexual safety, including condom use, is a community norm.

«It's time we recognize gay men for more than 20 years of practising safer sex and using condoms,» says Phillip Banks, Director of HIV Prevention at AIDS Vancouver and national coordinator of the campaign. «It's undeniable that gay men's efforts in the early days of HIV had the greatest impact on reducing HIV infection rates. This campaign acknowledges these successes and reminds gay men that their continued efforts are required.»

«Gay Men Play Safe» is the second national HIV prevention campaign for gay men led by AIDS Vancouver and supported by the Public Health Agency of Canada's National HIV/AIDS Community-based Social Marketing Fund. The first, entitled «Assumptions - How do you know what you know?,» was undertaken in 2004 and focussed on a small group of gay men who engage in unprotected anal intercourse with partners whose HIV status they don't know. The intent was to question the assumptions some gay men make about the relative safety of their sexual practices.

The 2005 campaign focusses on a much larger group of gay men who are consistent in their safer sex practices. According to the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, three out of four gay men choose safety, very rarely or never taking HIV risks. In addition to reinforcing the safer sex practices of the majority of gay men, the campaign aims to reduce new HIV infections by motivating other gay men to become safer.

«Surveys show that gay men are aware and concerned about the continuing threat to health posed by HIV,» says Dr. Terry Trussler, Research Director at the Community Based Research Centre in Vancouver, a partner in the campaign. «This campaign doesn't threaten or blame gay men. Rather, it acknowledges that as a community, gay men continue to support HIV prevention.»

The bilingual campaign consists of posters, coasters and postcards along with transit, billboard, washroom, newspaper and magazine advertising in all six cities. The use of explicit images will be restricted to closed, adult locations such as bathrooms in bars and posters in bathhouses, in part to avoid the controversy that arose during the «Assumptions» campaign, when media companies refused to display some campaign materials. A public service announcement will be broadcast on television and made available online through the campaign's English and French language web sites.

The «Gay Men Play Safe» campaign was developed pro bono by Rethink Advertising of Vancouver. This allowed more dollars to be invested in producing and distributing campaign materials, purchasing advertising space and creating the campaign Web sites.

In addition to AIDS Vancouver and the Community-Based Research Centre, partners in the campaign are AIDS Coalition of Nova Scotia, AIDS Community Care Montreal, Action Séro-Zéro, the AIDS Committee of Toronto, Nine Circles Community Health Centre, HIV Edmonton, Two-Spirited People of the First Nations and the Canadian AIDS Society.

For more information on the campaign, visit the Web site at www.gaymenplaysafe.com.