HIV risk behavior and risk-related characteristics of young Russian men who exchange sex for money or valuables from other men

One of the world's newest HIV epidemics is emerging now in Russia and other countries of Central and Eastern Europe. We report on the HIV risk charact eristics of young Russian men who exchange sex for money or valuables, a gr oup that constitutes almost one-fourth of men surveyed recently in gay-iden tified venues in St. Petersburg. Among 96 MSM who have sex for economic gai n, most reported multiple male and female partners, 45% had unprotected ana l intercourse with their male partners in the past three months, and many n ot only received but also gave money or valuables themselves to their male partners. Relative to men who did not give sex for economic gain (n = 326), those who did were younger (n =.0001), less well-educated (Q =.0001), and more often unemployed ce =.02). They also were less knowledgeable concernin g even basic HIV risk reduction steps (p =.02) and held many misconceptions about safer sex. Men who exchanged sex for economic gain had more male (g =.001) and female partners (P =.01) in the past three months than men who d id not, and one-third had been treated for STDs. In the context of Russia's rapid cultural and social changes, economic turmoil, and gay communities n ot yet experienced in AIDS, HIV prevention programs must be tailored to ris k patterns and dynamics different than those found in the gay communities o f many western countries.