An alarming trend in the rise of HIV among Asian gay men has prompted health and support services to call for expanded access to HIV-prevention drugs and more education programs targeting specific ethnicities.

Jimmy Chen had never been to a gay club until he moved to Australia from Taiwan three years ago. But a short-term relationship with a man changed his life last year. After undergoing a routine three-monthly sexual health status check, the 24-year-old was diagnosed with HIV.

"At the beginning, I just felt empty and also I feel like I don't have any emotion going on in my mind," he told SBS News.

While far fewer Australian-born men are being diagnosed with HIV, new diagnoses for gay men born in Southeast Asia, living in Australia, rose sharply between 2014 and 2016. There was also an increase among Northeast Asian-born men. Data from New South Wales shows the alarming trend is continuing. There were 29 per cent more new cases among overseas-born gay men in the first quarter of this year, compared to the previous five years.