This report represents the first exploratory study of Chinese men who provide commercial sex services to other men "money boys" in Jilin Province, People's Republic of China, through a convenience sample drawn from Changchun and Jilin City.
In spite of this level of knowledge, none of the participants reported always using a condom in their sexual activities. They also exhibited a high level of awareness of voluntary counseling and testing available in the province, yet relatively few had availed themselves of these services.
These preliminary findings will be used as a baseline and springboard for continuing study in the Jilin Province money boy community. Even now, however, it is becoming clear that the dynamics of male commercial sex work may vary greatly depending upon local influences, and will necessitate that future interventions are highly tailored to area-specific circumstances. The dire progression of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus HIV in China was highlighted in early , when reports emerged that it was the leading cause of infectious disease mortality during the previous year [ 1 ].
While the national prevalence is estimated to be only 0. These pockets often serve, in turn, as conduits for the disease into the broader heterosexual population through complex behavioral dynamics i. One such area of high prevalence is among men who have sex with men MSM. While much effort was placed early-on into understanding the nuances of HIV transmission in the drug injector and female sex work populations, general recognition of the depth and breadth of the MSM population was not acknowledged.
It was only after that the MSM population began to receive broad scrutiny on the mainland; indeed, it was not until that the MSM population was included in the national HIV sentinel surveillance [ 7 , 8 ].
