Recent epidemiological data and behavioural data from the VESPA/ANRS survey and the “sex-drive” conducted by the Psychosocial Research Institute (IPSR) shows the urgent need for care for the emotional and sexual quality of life, and from a public health point of view, how important it is to reduce the amount of sexual transmission of the virus. Indeed, 60% of HIV-positive people report that they continue to have sexual intercourse. Amongst HIV-positive women, 42% state that they have unprotected sex with their regular partner and 29% have unprotected sex with occasional partners. Forty percent of men having sexual relations with other men report unprotected sex with a regular partner and 23% report unprotected sex with casual partners. In other words, all sexual relations, whether they be with regular partners or not, are potentially at risk, depending on the context. Being HIV-positive is experienced as a limitation on sexuality that the people concerned never fully overcome. As we can see in the data on the subject of sexology consultations for people living with HIV, HIV infection has a detrimental effect on one’s erotic and emotional potential. A sexual complaint or repeated breakdowns in preventive behaviour can in some cases require the intervention of a sexologist to support and guide an analysis of the individual’s intimate feelings and modesty in the face of HIV infection; an analysis that should include aspects of pleasure, desire and eroticism. Promoting less risky behaviour for all HIV-infected patients who have sexual intercourse with new partners, and for their partners requires the sexologist not only to carefully listen to what the patient has to say and try to understand his needs, but also to compare his own practice of sexology with the image that the patient has of HIV and AIDS and its impact on his sexuality. Many people who have to live with HIV (40% of them) need support in order to recover a meaningful emotional and sex life. The sexologist can be the one to carry the lantern showing the way from a world where HIV is a heavy burden in terms of the symbols it represents in the patient’s intimate life, into a world where erotic behaviour can combine pleasure, desire, selfesteem and love for others.
Conflict of Interest: None disclosed
Financial Support/Funding: None disclosed
Recorded: Sydney, Australia, April 2007
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