Be Confident, Be Covered – the new condom campaign from Terrence Higgins Trust – aims to encourage gay men to continue to use condoms, which are still the best protection against HIV infection. Recent research showed that gay men were unaware of the increased prevalence of HIV among gay men, which was a key factor when they decided to use a condom.

The advertising campaign will use simple messages and striking images to give basic information about condom use including:

• Choosing the correct condom
• How to put on a condom correctly
• Choosing and using lubricant
• Overcoming common condom problems

Will Nutland, Head of Gay Men's Health Promotion at Terrence Higgins Trust said: "Research shows that most gay men use condoms most of the time. This campaign reaffirms condom use, whilst acknowledging that condom use isn't easy for all men, all of the time".

Marc Thompson, Senior Programme Development Officer at Terrence Higgins Trust explains: "Because of the success of anti-retroviral drugs, fewer people are dying of HIV. This also means that there are more sexually active HIV positive men than ever before.

"Gay men who took part in our focus groups were unaware of the increasing numbers of gay men living with HIV, and knowing the true risks they were taking was an important factor when they decided to use a condom."

Ends

For more information please contact the Terrence Higgins Trust Press Office on 020 7816 8622.

Notes to editors

Be Confident, Be Covered deals with three specific areas:

• Raising awareness of the increase in HIV prevalence
• Reinforcing the importance of consistent condom use, while acknowledging the difficulties some men experience with using condoms
• The campaign will appear across England and Wales in the gay press, gay venues and online at www.chapsonline.org.uk
• The campaign will be supported by the seventh edition of the highly acclaimed Exposed! Magazine.

Be Confident, Be Covered has been produced as part of the THT coordinated CHAPS programme. CHAPS works as a partnership of gay men's health agencies that include:

• Terrence Higgins Trust
• GMFA [London]
• Lesbian and Gay Foundation [Manchester]
• Yorkshire MESMAC [Leeds]
• Trade [Leicester]
• The Armistead Project [Liverpool]
• Sheffield Centre for HIV and Sexual Health
• The Eddystone Trust [Plymouth]
• CHAPS is evaluated by Sigma Research

HIV Statistics in the UK

• There are over 53,000 people living with HIV in the UK. HIV rates are continuing to climb in the UK, with 6,602 individuals diagnosed in 2003 in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. This is a 20% increase over 2002; the second 20% annual rise in a row.
• Gay men are still experiencing the highest rates of new diagnoses of infections acquired in the UK, with 1735 cases (30%) reported in 2003. 15% of gay men living in London are HIV positive.
  

Terrence Higgins Trust

Terrence Higgins Trust is the UK’s leading HIV and sexual health charity, providing a wide range of services to over 50,000 people a year. The charity also campaigns and lobbies for greater political and public understanding of the personal, social and medical impact of HIV and AIDS.