Published Jun 10, 2026 | 7:00 AM ⚊ Updated Jun 10, 2026 | 7:00 AM
Male-to-male sexual encounters are increasingly being arranged through virtual platforms such as dating apps.
Synopsis: Karnataka’s HIV cases have risen considerably over the last three years, particularly among young men, with one study noting a 17 percent year-on-year increase in cases linked to male-to-male sexual contact. According to those on the front lines of the fight against the disease, anonymous encounters arranged through dating apps are making tracing and notification efforts increasingly difficult, while persistent misconceptions about how HIV spreads, coupled with stigma around testing, continue to hinder prevention and early diagnosis.
Karnataka has seen the total number of active HIV cases soar over the last three years, rising from 44,581 in 2023-24 to 62,664 in 2024-25, before reaching 66,606 in 2025-26. According to data from the Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society (KSAPS), HIV is now the most commonly reported sexually transmitted infection in the state.
Cases among those aged 18-25 rose from 3,732 in 2023-24 to 6,962 in 2024-25. There was a relative dip in 2025-26, with 6,283 cases.
In the 26-35 age group, cases increased from 9,351 in 2023-24 to 14,555 in 2025-26. The rise has prompted authorities to conduct awareness programmes in college hostels and corporate offices.
A 2024 longitudinal study published in the Journal of the International AIDS Society tracked HIV incidence among MSM across eight clinic sites in India between 2014 and 2022. Bengaluru recorded the highest incidence rate among all MSM sites, at 3.5 new infections per 100 person-years. Belgaum, also in Karnataka, recorded the lowest rate, at 0.4 per 100 person-years.
Across all sites combined, HIV incidence among MSM rose by 17 percent annually over the same period.
According to Padma Basavanthappa, Project Director at KSAPS, and Dr Vinay N Kaushik, a urologist and andrologist at Apollo Hospitals, Bengaluru, who has worked with HIV patients, male-to-male sexual contact, particularly among young men, accounts for a sizeable share of the increase.
At the same time, they say many such encounters are arranged through dating apps, making testing, partner notification and contact tracing increasingly difficult.
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Basavanthappa said male-to-male sexual encounters are increasingly being arranged through virtual platforms such as dating apps.
“Injecting drug use accounts for the fewest cases [in the South]; such cases are mostly reported in the Northeast. We also have cases among FSWs [female sex workers], but the rate of increase is not as high. Earlier, transmission was largely confined within sex-worker networks, whether female or male. Now, however, casual sex and sexual activity among acquaintances are increasing. The highest proportion of cases is coming from men who have sex with men, where safety remains the biggest concern. Last year if it was two hundred, this year it is four hundred that is double increase,” she told South First.
“When people meet virtually, we are often unable to trace their partners because they themselves do not know where the other person is from. That is one of the biggest issues we are facing, not only in Karnataka but everywhere. We are seeing college-going boys aged 21, 22 and 25. When they test positive, many of them break down. It is really sad to see such young men getting infected and crying.”
A 2021 study published in the journal Social Networks noted that anonymous encounters arranged through mobile applications often leave partners knowing only screen names, nicknames or limited identifying information, making it difficult for public health authorities to reconstruct sexual networks and notify potentially exposed individuals after an HIV diagnosis.
Dr Kaushik said he has witnessed the problem first-hand.
“In the app-based dating landscape that many young men in Bengaluru navigate, encounters are often anonymous and profiles are deleted after meetings. Sometimes a contact is just a first name, or no name at all. Tracing partners becomes almost impossible. I have had patients who genuinely cannot tell me whom they need to notify. This is a genuine public health blind spot,” he told South First.
“The MSM community is disproportionately affected, and the trend is real. This is not a distant public health statistic. It is happening in our city and among our patients.”
A persistent misconception about HIV transmission continues to undermine prevention efforts, according to Basavanthappa and Dr Kaushik.
“Many men do not know that HIV can be transmitted through sex between men. The general perception is that it spreads only through women. That is the myth many people continue to believe,” Basavanthappa said.
“Many young men who later tested positive asked us, ‘Can it spread through men having sex with men?’ That is why we felt the need to address these misconceptions.”
Dr Kaushik said such misunderstandings stem partly from how HIV is commonly perceived.
“The first misconception is that HIV is a gay disease in some fixed categorical sense. This leads some men who engage in homosexual activity to believe they are not at risk because they do not identify as gay. Identity and behaviour are different things, and HIV does not care about labels,” he said.
He identified three other misconceptions: that oral sex carries zero risk; that a person can tell whether someone is HIV-positive simply by looking at them; and that HIV infection is fatal.
“Most people in the early months of infection are in a highly infectious phase with no symptoms whatsoever. The only way to know is to get tested,” he added.
HIV is no longer considered a fatal disease when diagnosed early. Antiretroviral therapy can suppress the virus to undetectable levels, allowing people to live long, healthy lives while preventing onward transmission.
“This is known as U=U – undetectable equals untransmittable. But awareness of this remains low in India, both among patients and the general public,” Dr Kaushik added.
The concept has become a cornerstone of HIV prevention efforts globally, but awareness remains limited in India.
Dr Kaushik said stigma remains the single biggest barrier faced by many of his patients.
“I see patients who have delayed seeking care for months, and sometimes years, because they were afraid — afraid of judgment from a doctor, afraid their family would find out, afraid of the social consequences of an HIV-positive result, and even afraid of being seen walking into a particular clinic,” he said.
“Stigma keeps people away from testing. When people stay away from testing, they do not get treated. And when they do not get treated, they can continue to unknowingly pass the virus on to others. Fear of judgment is not just a personal tragedy; it is one of the factors that keeps this epidemic running.”
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To encourage more people to get tested, KSAPS runs a ‘Know Your Status’ campaign built around anonymity. A QR code directs users to a seven-question screening tool, none of which asks directly about sexual identity. Based on their responses, users are connected to counsellors online or through the multilingual 1097 helpline, free of cost.
“If they select their district and state, they can identify the nearest centre and go there for testing. Everything is provided free of cost, including testing and medication,” Basavanthappa said.
At the same time, Dr Kaushik said that prevention efforts must move faster on multiple fronts and called for community-led testing, sensitisation training for healthcare providers, and factual sex education that reaches young people in colleges and workplaces.
“We need to urgently expand access to PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis. This is a daily tablet that can reduce the risk of HIV acquisition through sexual exposure by up to 99 percent. NACO’s 2022 guidelines called for PrEP distribution through government centres, but that rollout has simply not happened at scale. This is an intervention that could dramatically reduce new infections, and it is being left on the table,” he said.
PrEP is a preventive HIV medication recommended for people at high risk of infection. Although the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) issued guidelines to expand access, public-sector availability remains limited across much of India.
