Testing Practices
ManCount results showed that testing participation is robust but they also revealed gaps to
be addressed. 86% of ManCount men had tested for HIV at some point in their lives, 51%
within the previous year. These findings suggest that individual awareness of HIV status among ManCount men is relatively high. Nonetheless, ManCount blood samples showed that at least 2.5% (1 in Top 3 Reasons for HIV Testing Top 3 Reasons for Not Testing 40) were unaware of their HIV positive status.
Importantly, half of those positive unaware men had tested for HIV at least once (most more than once) over the previous 2 years, indicating that their infection may have occurred between screenings.
ManCount results show that 14% overall had never tested for HIV.
HIV Prevalence by Age Group
Top Sex Seeking
However, a significantly larger portion (23%) of young men under 30 had never tested. Can testing participation improve? ManCount found that 67.9% of respondents had tested at least once for HIV in the last 2 years. Routine screening, entering a new relationship and potential exposure appeared to be the most common reasons for having an HIV test. A range of other less common reasons such as finding out a partner had been infected or experiencing symptoms were documented.
The most common reasons for not testing related to perceived “low risk” and “consistent safety”. For a significant portion (30%), however, not testing was simply procrastination. Further analysis showed that, to a great extent (92%), those who perceived themselves to be at low risk actually were at low risk by what they reported in their sexual behaviour.