First results of the large survey study EMIS 2017 (European MSM Internet Survey) have now been presented at the International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam. Gay and bisexual men from Europe and other countries are in the spotlight. EMIS 2017 comes with fresh data on sexual health, mental well-being and the use of alcohol and other stimulants.
51% know what PrEP is. But...
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51% of respondents know that PrEP is a drug-based prophylaxis against HIV infection. It can therefore be said that the relatively new safer sex method PrEP (short for pre-exposure prophylaxis) is relatively well known among gay and bisexual men. In particular, the respondents know that PrEP works as part of a long-term daily dose.
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However, only 20% of respondents in Europe know that PrEP can also be used as a temporary protective measure ("PrEP on demand"), e.g. for a sex date or a sex party. However, awareness of "PrEP on demand" varies greatly across the EU member states.
People who have multiple sex partners take PrEP more often
The demand for PrEP is also linked to the number of sex partners. This was also shown by EMIS 2017. PrEP is the preferred prevention method for men who have sex with more than one man. It can be assumed that this group knows from experience that protection against HIV, e.g. with condoms during sex, is not always successful or possible.
People who have "chemsex" are also more likely to take PrEP
It was also shown that PrEP is more frequently chosen as a method of protection against HIV by those who have experience with stimulants during sex.
These two important findings also make it clear that PrEP will ultimately close an HIV prevention gap and that regulated access will lead to a significant reduction in new HIV diagnoses.
Use of stimulating substances in the context of sex
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70% of the men surveyed "never" or "almost never" used alcohol or other stimulants for sex in the last 12 months. On the other hand, only 7% of the European respondents "always" or "almost always" had sex under the influence of stimulants.
If you look at the media discourse on "chemsex" in recent years, you might get the impression that the use of cocaine, MDMA, ketamine and the often-mentioned crystal meth is a widespread phenomenon among gay and bisexual men. Based on the data from EMIS 2017, this cannot be confirmed.
"Chemsex is also clearly a phenomenon in major European cities. There, significantly more gay and bisexual men have "chemsex". However, this is a group that may have specific prevention needs. In another study conducted on this topic in Australia, 15.7% of the gay and bisexual men surveyed considered their substance use to be problematic, while the figure for crystal meth use was over 44%.
Background to EMIS 2017
EMIS 2017 is one of the largest multinational surveys ever conducted on the health of gay and bisexual men. 134,000 men* from all parts of Europe and beyond took part in the EMIS 2017 study. In Germany, well over 20,000 men took part in the survey.
An overall report on the results will be published by Deutsche Aidshilfe in 2019.
EMIS 2017 Community Report for download (English)
The first community report on EMIS 2017 is already available with the first exciting results on the download ready! (in English)
The data cited here comes from the presentation by Axel J. Schmidt and Peter Weatherburn at the International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam on 23 July 2018. The title of the presentation was "EMIS pan-European MSM survey, Background and overview of study and selected results. Presentation at the 22nd International AIDS-Conference, Amsterdam, 23 July 2018"
