One-third of Australian HIV-positive gay men and 17 percent of HIV-negative gay men have unprotected anal sex with casual partners, according to a new study published in the journal AIDS Care.

The rate climbs higher among men who use recreational drugs or employ hustlers.

Among both positives and negatives, men who engage in condomless sex have more sex than the average gay man, the study found. They also are more likely to believe that pulling out before ejaculation is safe sex and to be unemployed or employed in white-collar jobs.

The study was conducted by the National Centre in HIV Social Research, the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, and the AIDS Council of New South Wales.

MALAYSIA DEPORTS INFECTED WORKERS

Malaysian Health Minister Chua Jui Ment last week told the Immigration Department to send home 1,030 legal foreign workers because they tested positive for HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis or venereal disease.

The workers come from Pakistan, Thailand, the Philippines, India and Burma. They were identified via mandatory health exams.

MOSCOW MANDATES CONDOM MACHINES

Moscow officials have ordered that condom machines be installed in all late-night bars, restaurants, discos and casinos, and in theaters, airports, train stations and gas stations, reported the Interfax news service.

The city recorded 17,000 new cases of syphilis in 1997.

Rex Wockner's weekly international news reports dating back to May 1994 can be searched at http://www.wockner.com. The reports in their original form are archived at http://www.qrd.org/qrd/www/world/wockner.html, which also archives Wockner's Quote Unquote column and some of his longer gay-press articles.