FYI, Major AIDS crisis may hit Tijuana, report says

[Jena]

Can you get any girl in the Zona to go bareback? No!

Is it easy to find chicas (other than "skanks") who will go bareback? Yes!

It's sort of like getting a girl to spend the night with you (for $250.00) in that once you learn how it's done you find it isn't that hard to willing chica.

However, I'm encouraged that Kittfreak wasn't more sucessful. Hopefully that means a lot of guys don't know where to go or how to play the game. (And I'm not about to give pointers on how to find bareback sex in TJ. While it's readily available, it isn't a wise thing to do.)

 

[jobromancer]

I agree, it is very unlikely to happen...but possible. And for the record, IMHO reports of plentiful bareback sex providers in the Zona is exaggerated. It is easy to tell a "big fish" story on the net in anonymity.

I personally confirmed that BB is available, but not widely and not from any WG worth fucking anyways. The desirable WG were not doing bareback. I spent a whole evening last week discreetly asking for bareback, just to see the results. This was on a slow week night. For the record, I had no intention of doing the deed unsheathed! Only met 3 WG that would agree to BB, and this was for ridiculous money. The 2 SG wanted $40 and $50. They were both very skanky types, not the cute ones. Even the ugly beast looking WG turned down $ for BB and one lectured me on safe sex. The horrible crack whore ones I refused to even ask- of course they will do anything and if you will fuck them then may you rest in peace, son.

The one AB chick who agreed wanted $200, and she is a "3" out of "10" at best, kind of fat, and one of the worst girls in the club. But, all of the WG worth fucking turned it down flat, even for $200. Most seemed grossed out or offended- even after I told them I was joking. Most were also hard pressed to even agree to BBBJs. Of those who agreed to BBBJ (about one out of 4) those who did wanted a premium of $20-40. Most of the low end AB girls and two lesser, but fuckable, chicks offer BBBJ for as part of the regular deal- if asked.

My conclusion -Maybe the skankiest, nastiest whores or an occasional FOB I can believe is doing BB. But not the "rank and file" providers. I believe that b.s. as much as I buy the stories of getting an hour with a CC/AB superstar for $40 on a Friday night. Some people will say anything for attention. I think that this is business to these whores. They see us as a walking dick with a wallet - pendejos (assholes or suckers), even the ones of us they like. And for a whore getting an STD or pregnant is bad for business.

So IMHO Disneyland is more of a realistic threat (like Times Square in NYC) than an AIDS epidemic.

 

[Pompal 09.]

Yes, it's possible the Zona could be closed sometime. But I don't think it likely. Over the years a lot of "Cleaup up Tijuana" campaigns have failed.

What I'd worry about--more than AIDS closing the Zona--is a sucessuful tourist campaign. If they ever put Casions or something like Disneyland in TJ and get serious about making Tijuana a "family destination" then the Zona may become a thing of the past.

TJ doesn't get much tax revenue out of the Zona. (No income tax on the chica's earning. And a lot of the money they earn gets send elswhere instead of being spent locally.) So the city wouldn't mind replacing the Zona with casinos, hotels, family attractions, etc. that can be taxed.

 

[Pompal 09.]

I'm not saying this will definately happen. I pray that it won't. The Zona is my playground. But, this could happen here. If we really appreciate the Zona, it is on each of us to encourage safer sex practices for our fellow mongers and the WG. Spread the message everyone!

 

[eir]

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[Honeybear13]

[ol97tnim,9t9rt66,jlbhkb

 

[diamonds24]

Yeah, whatever.

 

[Pompal 09.]

Enjoy the Zona while it lasts, fellas. Though that report doesn't seem to cite any hard numbers. And it is pretty well established that the huge risk of AIDS transmission is faced by gays who have unprotected anal sex and IV drug users. But, women who have unprotected sex with men who are HIV+ also face a high risk. Unfortunately, many of the WG in the Zona are going bareback with customers. It is conceivable that a widespread HIV panic in the Zona could happen fairly soon.

If/when HIV runs through the Zona, thanks to guys going bareback with the WG, we may see the city finally develop the political determination to shut down (or severely limit) activity in the Zona for public health reasons.

Think about it. Mexican politics are in a reform era. A reform-minded city government administration could score major points by being "tough on crime and vice" and shutting down the Zona - without even butting heads with the real powerful crooks, the drug lords. Does this sound familiar? (like in LA where it is easier to commit a drive-by shooting or sell crack than to pick up a streetwalker).

WG in TJ would then become much more scarce, much more spread out, and also more expensive. Plus the TJ policia have already shown a willingness to exploit us to line their pockets - police stings and rip-offs would become a way of life for TJ mongers. Plus, many of our favorite WG would be off-heading to the US with a local coyote, or back to Acalpulco, Cancun, Mexico City, etc.

If you think it couldn't happen here, this exact thing has happened in Itaewon, South Korea in recent years. Itaewon used to be a pussy paradise. Condoms were optional with the WG. But, bareback sex with guys returning from Thailand and the PI caused an AIDS boom for local WG, extensive news coverage heightened the panic, and then "poof"- the red light district was virtually shut down. It's now hard for a non-Korean to even get a WG now. Let's face it, all good things must end.

 

[James Q]

I agree with Burt on this. We have heard for over a decade that AIDS would be an epidemic among heterosexuals in this country, yet AIDS is still predominantly in the gay and drug user demographics. Scare tactics have led to funding for more studies and research, which is the likely intent of these reported studies.

 

[elenelie]

The story appeared on page B1 of the 03/02/2006 San Diego Union Tribune. Some things to note:
--The data was extrapolated.
--The estimate has a huge floor and ceiling: 1,803 to 5,472 estimated cases
--This study is being used to seek funding

The overall rate for the State of California is about 0.6%; the rate in New York City is about 1%. If there are 1803 cases the infection rate is 0.0026 (under half the overall rate in California). If there are 5474 cases the rate is 0.0079 (lower than the rate in New York City).

To me this article smacks of scare tactics by a group seeking funding. Of course, that doesn’t mean it is wise to go bareback in TJ—or anywhere else.

 

[CanineTruth]

Researchers on both sides of border urge fast action
By Cheryl Clark
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
March 2, 2006

Tijuana, long thought to have a relatively small prevalence of HIV infection, is on the cusp of an alarming AIDS outbreak rivaling those experienced by many major U.S. cities, including San Diego, with as many as one in 125 people ages 15 to 49 now infected.

That's the conclusion of a new report from the University of California San Diego and Mexican researchers, who predict a public health crisis in Tijuana if steps aren't taken quickly.

The researchers looked at current infection rates in groups engaging in low-to high-risk behaviors and compared them with similar statistics from the 1990s. The findings were then extrapolated to the 686,000 people in Tijuana ages 15 to 49. It was concluded that 1,803 to 5,472 in that age bracket are infected, or up to one in 125 people.


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“This suggests we may be on the verge of a major HIV-AIDS outbreak in Tijuana,” said Steffanie Strathdee, chief of UCSD's division of international health and cross-cultural medicine and the principal author of the report.

“HIV prevention efforts and treatment should be a priority in the border region, but no one has been paying attention to this problem,” she said. “Interventions to reduce ongoing spread of HIV are urgently needed.”

The rate of one in 125 mirrors the rate for the same age group in San Diego County, according to statistics from the county Office of AIDS Coordination and the San Diego Association of Governments.

The UCSD and Mexican study was co-written by Kimberly Brouwer, a UCSD assistant professor, and several researchers with Mexico's AIDS prevention agency in Mexico City. It was published in the February Journal of Urban Health.

The study found the following increases in infection since the 1990s:

Among female sex workers, infection went from five per 1,000 to 48 per 1,000, or 4.8 percent of sex workers.

Among injection drug users, the rate went from 20 per 1,000 to as many as 65 per 1,000, or 6.5 percent of drug users.

Among men who have sex with men, the rate increased from 12 percent to 19 percent.

Among pregnant women, generally considered to be in a low-risk category, HIV infection rates rose from one per 1,000 to 11 per 1,000, or 1.1 percent.

“No one ever guessed we would see a prevalence rate of 1 percent in pregnant women,” said Strathdee, who said the findings “alarmed” both U.S. and Mexican researchers doing the study. “That's when UNAIDS (the United Nations AIDS program) says a problem is becoming a generalized epidemic.”

With little money to test and counsel those infected, much less provide treatment, the problem is destined to get worse before it gets better, she said.

Tijuana had been thought of as not in danger of an AIDS epidemic because of the perception that it has relatively few intravenous drug users and gay men, several San Diego AIDS experts have long acknowledged.

But Strathdee said the warning signs are becoming more evident in part because of the city's growing number of infected sex workers.

In her report, she mentioned a 2004 study that “found that female sex workers in Tijuana seldom negotiated the use of condoms, had a low knowledge regarding the proper use of condoms and did not like to use condoms with clients because they were perceived as uncomfortable.”

Strathdee said: “People don't have an understanding of the level of risks that are going on. In this city, prostitution is quasi-legal and there are 6,000 to 10,000 intravenous drug users. It also is a major drug-trafficking route.”

Tijuana men who have sex with men do so on both sides of the border, which she described as easy to cross.

Dr. George Lemp, director of the state-funded Universitywide AIDS Research Program, said there have been hints that HIV infections have “been expanding among Mexican migrants in California,” where studies have noted a “tremendous” increase in high-risk behaviors.

“This new Tijuana study is further evidence that concern is warranted,” Lemp said. “There needs to be more collaborative effort between Mexican local and federal governments and California government and academic institutions” to identify and control the spread.

Terry Cunningham, head of the county Office of AIDS Coordination, agreed with the need for more collaboration.

“We've always considered the possibility that there can be an increase in Tijuana AIDS infections,” he said, adding that his office will “look at the study more closely and see how we can collaborate with our partners across the border.”

Mexican agencies that participated in the research included Centro Nacional para la Prevencion y Control del VIH/SIDA in Mexico City and the Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica of Cuernavaca.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/tijuana/20060302-9999-7m2hiv.html