4 Despite such information, there are no state-sponsored programmes for distribution of condoms. In one study, the participants estimated that between 20% and 90% of all MSM living in Berlin were HIV positive.
2 Some MSM in Berlin describe the city as the ‘HIV capital of Europe’. This could be due to MSM-oriented meeting places, such as saunas and clubs, which provide high numbers of sexual partners. 3 The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS data suggest that Germany has a high concentration of MSM in larger cities. It is estimated at 5.0%–7.5% in MSM and below 0.2% among the total adult population in Germany 2 as compared with 3%–6% in MSM and 0.07% in the total adult population in Sweden. The HIV prevalence in Germany and Sweden differs, although not drastically.
1 Each year in the period 2010–2014, on average five Swedish MSM contracted HIV while travelling to Germany and in 2017, on average one Swedish MSM a week reported having contracted gonorrhoea in Germany (Source: Public Health Agency of Sweden, Sminet database).
Gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM) carry a disproportional burden of HIV infection in Europe.
