STIs mean more risk

Not using condoms leaves you much more open to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) like gonorrhoea, hepatitis C, herpes and syphilis. These are all much easier to catch than HIV. The more men you have sex with - especially if it’s unprotected - the more likely you’ll get infections.

Having an STI:

• makes men with HIV more likely to pass HIV on
• makes HIV negative men more likely to pick HIV up.

Here’s how HIV ‘piggy backs’ on STIs...

HIV gets out of one person’s bloodstream and into someone else’s through the delicate, absorbent skin inside the arse, on the head of the cock or in the mouth and throat. If an STI makes skin here sore, inflamed or bleed, it’s even easier for HIV to get through it.

But it’s not just about skin damage. When someone has HIV and an STI, their HIV viral load goes up, making their blood, cum, etc, more infectious. This is because their immune system must fight both infections, so can’t put up as strong a fight against HIV until the STI is treated.