World AIDS Day, December 1: Media advisory

McGill University research team finds MDs, health workers lack knowledge about HIV, chlamydia transmission

As governments and individuals commemorate World AIDS Day this Thursday, a team of researchers have published a study that reveals a surprising lack of knowledge about HIV transmission rates among physicians and health workers.

The study was published in the October issue of the journal Sexually Transmitted Diseases.

Among the findings:

• Only 1.4% of the doctors and clinic workers who were surveyed knew that the probability of HIV transmission during a single instance of vaginal intercourse is below 0.5%.
• Workers at STI (sexually transmitted infections) clinics are especially likely to be misinformed about HIV transmission rates, with many stating that the chances of contracting the disease are 50% or 100%.
• The study suggests an ethical dilemma: on one hand, patients have a right to accurate information, but on the other, people may no longer practice safe sex if they are aware that HIV transmission rates are actually quite low.

Professor Bärbel Knäuper of McGill University, one of the authors of the study, is available for comment on November 30 and December 1. She can be reached by phone at 514-398-8186 or by barbel.knauper [at] mcgill.ca (email).