HIV positive or not – sexual desire remains unaffected

[10 December 2007 - 10h51]
[mis à jour le 11 December 2007 à 10h51]

Thanks to the arrival some ten years ago of antiretroviral drugs, there has been a clear improvement in the survival of people who are HIV positive. And improvement in their quality of life too. In fact, many are now over fifty years old and maintain a flourishing sex life.

According to the Sexuality in France survey published last March by the French National Agency for AIDS research (ANRS), growing older by no means marks the end of sexuality… whether a person is HIV positive or not.

Of the 12,364 people questioned by the ANRS, 87.2% of women aged 60 to 90 stated that they had had sexual relations during the twelve months prior to the study. This was true of 91.4% of men. And the average monthly number of sexual relations for these groups was around 8.7 for both sexes.

Of course, sexual problems remain among those who are HIV positive, notably because of having to take a daily battery of medication, including antiretroviral drugs. Difficulties such as loss of libido, erection and ejaculation problems are real, but those concerned appear to overcome them fairly satisfactorily. In any case, their sexual desire seems unaffected.

Source : Transversal, November/December 2007 No. 39

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