A survey, conducted on 240 men in Sydney's western suburbs, has revealed that sexually transmitted diseases can be spread, without detection, by married men in homosexual affairs.
Researcher Jeff Hudson says that husband's fears of telling their wives about their affairs can lead to infections being spread.
He told AAP, "Health professionals should know it occurs. If someone comes in to get a test at the doctor because they're sick, just because they're married the doctor would not say you should have an STI check, or HIV check. That's where often the disease spread happens, because these men don't see themselves as at risk or at risk for their wives because they don't identify with the usual gay man or bisexual man and so the health professionals don't ask about sexual history.''
According to the study, more than half of the participant's wives are unaware about their extra-marital encounters. The men crave the "normalization" of same sex relationships and would rather die then let their loved ones know the truth.
Mr Hudson continued, "A lot of men will commit suicide because they don't see any other way out. Instead of hurting their wives or damaging their marriage or ending up with nothing, they would rather kill themselves."
Prime Minister John Howard recently addressed the rising number of HIV/AIDS patients in Australia, saying that the national and state borders need to follow the same strict guidelines to stop further spreading.
Mr Howard singled out African refugees, tell Southern Cross radio, "My initial reaction is no, they should not be allowed in Australia. There may be some humanitarian considerations that could temper that in certain cases but prima facie, no."
However, during a recent AIDS awareness workshop in Tanzania, delegates responded to the comments and said that the infection is a global problem, not only infecting people in Africa.
Andrew Ouma from Kenya said, "It is an unfortunate statement which he should withdraw. It affects all people living with HIV-AIDS in the whole world. It stigmatizes them."
But Mr Howard believes border control can improve HIV/AIDS figures, as recent numbers have shown that the Victorian patients have quadrupled.
Mr Howard concluded, "I think we should have the most stringent possible conditions in relation to that nationwide and I know the health minister (Tony Abbott) is concerned about that and is examining ways of tightening things up and I think people are entitled to be concerned."
