If you’re a Man who has Sex with Men (MSM) and you really want to know what is going on when it comes to sexual health we highly recommend the following video seminars which have just been published by the New Zealand organisation PHARMAC.
HIV Update
Dr Massimo Giola, an Infectious Disease and Sexual Health Consultant talks about HIV, Treatment As Prevention, PEP (known as the morning after pill) and PrEP. These videos are packed with information. Interestingly Dr Giola believes that PrEP may only be suitable for a short period of use and not for a whole lifetime:
STIs
In two further videos he talks about Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) amongst MSM. You will hear about how rising STIs are a “catastrophe” in his opinion. He believes that emerging drug resistant gonorrhea could be untreatable by 2030 and looks at how damaging gonorrhea could be in the days before antibiotics.
There’s no need to be frightened by this. Information empowers us. But it’s commonsense to think about what you do sexually going forward and make sensible choices. Condoms are one of the most effective forms of protection as Dr Giola points out.
These are some of the best video seminars we’ve seen. You can find more from the event on this page.
PHARMAC is the New Zealand government agency that decides which pharmaceuticals to publicly fund in New Zealand.