Health risksĪ variety of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can result from sexual activity. A 2007 study reported that two large population surveys found 'the majority of gay men had similar numbers of unprotected sexual partners annually as straight men and women.' Īcquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Worldwide, an estimated 5–10% of HIV infections are the result of men having sex with men.
However, in North America and Western and Central Europe, more HIV infections are transmitted by men having sex with men than by any other transmission route in 2009. In the United States, gay and bisexual men accounted for 70% of 38,739 new HIV diagnoses in 2017. Of the 5,164 people diagnosed with HIV in the UK in 2016, 54% were gay or bisexual men.
This statistic is decreasing in London as reported by Public Health England in 2017.