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Hong Kong faces an HIV epidemic unless there is greater use of condoms by men who engage in homosexual sex, a US expert has warned.

Tim Brown  of East West Centre in Hawaii, an adviser to the World Health Organisation's Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids,  also warned that failure could result in 3,000 more HIV infections and additional treatment cost of more than HK$1 billion by 2020.

The Hong Kong Advisory Council on Aids had recommended that the government  focus  on increasing condom use - to more than 80 per cent in the next five years - among  men who have sex with men.

Dr Brown, whose warning is contained in the council's latest report, 'Recommended HIV/Aids Strategies for Hong Kong 2007-11', pointed out that Hong Kong has entered an accelerating phase of the epidemic because of man-to-man infections.

Last year, the Centre for Health Protection for the first time identified two clusters of HIV infections - involving at least 34 men and 12 men respectively - who had unsafe sex.

However, a study commissioned by the centre last year showed that less than 60 per cent of men who had sex with men  consistently used condoms, which was 'far from satisfactory'.

Dr Brown warned that 'Hong Kong could easily move from a low level to a concentrated HIV epidemic should the current situation continue'.

He estimated that  failure to prevent this epidemic would mean 3,000 more homosexual men would  need cocktail drug therapy, or highly active antiretroviral therapy, for HIV treatment by 2010. This would be translated into,  social costs aside, a cumulative additional treatment cost of more than HK$1 billion by  2020.

The council recommended that one of the targets for  the next five years should be increasing condom use among men who have sex with men, and sex workers and their clients, to more than 80 per cent and boosting their awareness of safe sex.

It suggested that preventive measures  must be conducted in a way that 'does not foster further stigmatisation and discrimination of men who have sex with men'.

Unsafe sex

The number of new HIV infections in the city last year  373



US expert warns HK faces man-to-man HIV epidemic