“What’s new, Buenos Aires?”
Posted on 05/04/2009 3:18:38 AM PDT by Man50D
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is funding a study that seeks to discover a link between drinking and having sex among homosexuals in Argentina.
The study will send researchers to six bars in Buenos Aires to interview both patrons and proprietors in an effort to discover what it is about those bars that may encourage the risky behavior.
The study began on Sept. 30, 2008, and runs through Aug. 31, 2010. It already has cost taxpayers $198,776. By the time the project ends, it will have cost $403,902, according to NIH.
The grant, awarded to the New York State Psychiatric Institute, was provided by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the division of NIH that studies the effects of alcohol and alcoholism.
The study’s primary focus is to determine the relationship among drinking, bars frequented by homosexuals, and risky sexual behavior to see if certain bars in Argentina might be good targets for HIV-prevention campaigns.
“Targeting public venues in Buenos Aires where men meet, alcohol is consumed, and sexual behavior occurs, the goal of this two-year exploratory study is to understand the various factors that contribute to the creation of a high-risk sexual space,” the study’s abstract explains.
"To that end, the study seeks to describe the relative contribution of physical characteristics of the place, patron characteristics, type and level of alcohol consumption, and social dynamics that are at play and potentiate each other to result in sexual risk behavior."
The study has six goals, including the collection of information on six specific bars in Buenos Aires; the appearance, of those bars, alcohol availability, patrons, and types of sexual behavior taking place. The study also seeks to identify which factors contribute to alcohol consumption and sexual behavior in the bars.
“The specific aims of this study are to … 2) identify factors that contribute to alcohol use and high-risk sexual behavior in the venues,” says the abstract.
Researchers will interview 48 of the men who patronize the bars, as well as the bar staff to gather information on the types of alcohol consumed and sexual behavior engaged in.
“Venue patrons will also undergo a brief quantitative assessment to gather descriptive data on sexual behavior and substance use.”
After discovering why men who drink in these bars have homosexual sex, researchers will then try to discover whether it is possible to conduct anti-HIV interventions and how to conduct those interventions.
The study will “4) assess willingness of venue owners/personnel to partner with HIV prevention organizations in reducing HIV risk in these settings and [what] types of prevention programs they find acceptable.”
While the study is being conducted in Argentina, it is being funded with U.S. tax dollars. The grant recipients--who could not be reached for comment--say in the abstract that information gathered in the bars in Argentina might help inform similar efforts in America.
“We expect findings to be useful in informing venue-based interventions for these types of venues in other countries.”
The study is among a number funded by the NIAAA to examine the relationship between drinking and the spread of HIV, including a study of tourism, prostitution, and HIV in the Dominican Republic and another study examining drinking and HIV among prostitutes in China.
A tax-payer-funded $400,000 gay-sex drinking spree in Argentina.
D’OH!
We will find out that queers, after getting lubed on liquor, will fornicate more often and more wildly in their drunken haze.
I didn’t need a $400,000 grant to say that.
I thought this was from The Onion!
Is Barney doing?
WTF? Unbelievable...
Maybe because they're homosexuals?
OK, now pay ME $403,902.
I need to be paid to study why middle age white males go on safari in Africa and kill animals. 400K should about do it.
Inother words, after this junket and bar tabs and vacation is over, the queers will be vacationing in San Fransicko, Provincetown, Key West, ...
What's the over/under on how many of the 'researchers' engage in sex acts with their 'research subjects' after the questioning is completed?
Oops...over/under...my bad, my bad...
I cannot, in my imagination, devise a more useless use of funds.
This needs to be on FOX or Drudge - somewhere.
I people realized what their tax dollars go to, there
would be even more bodies at the tea parties.
Are they sending Anderson Cooper, Keef Olbermann and David Shuster to do the ‘investigating’
Couldn’t they have done/do this is San Francisco and saved a bundle?
San Francisco lacks the exotic foliage of Argentina. If you’re going to go on a ‘research’ junket, you want to head for the tropics...
Be sure you set yourself up as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) before you go.
“What’s new, Buenos Aires?”
All they have to do is follow Barney fag around for a week.
This survey could be done on Capitol Hill for the cost of a few drinks.
Why do they have to go to Buenos Aires? Won’t San Francisco do?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.