Overview - amFAR MSM Initiative

“MSM have been largely ignored by both social and public health structures in many countries for too long,” stated a recently published study in the journal PLoS Medicine. While available data indicate a widespread threat that could devastate MSM populations around the world, HIV transmission among MSM is still not tracked in most countries. A Population Ignored - Globally, fewer than one in 20 MSM has access to HIV prevention, treatment, and care services. A study of 16 countries in the Asia-Pacific region revealed that no more than two percent of MSM in those countries had access to HIV prevention programs. In most developing nations, HIV prevention campaigns are aimed at the general public. While countries are starting to recognize the HIV/AIDS needs of more easily identifiable vulnerable groups such as female sex workers and injection drug users, MSM are still largely ignored. Compounding the problem, MSM programs rarely benefit from bilateral funding and grants from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria because they flow primarily through local governments. Stigma and Criminalization Fuel the Epidemic - Laws against male-male sex exist in 85 countries around the world. Even in countries without legal prohibitions against same-sex behavior, widespread stigma often prevents MSM from seeking or receiving essential HIV/AIDS prevention services or care. Moreover, without appropriate health messages and support, many MSM in such countries unknowingly engage in behavior that increases their risk of HIV infection. In some regions, up to half of all men report never having used a condom during male-male sex. Seeds of Change - Discrimination has driven the HIV epidemic among MSM underground, but that is starting to change. Grassroots movements are forming in Africa, India, Southeast Asia, and other developing regions where discrimination is commonplace and the epidemic has reached crisis proportions. Recent reports by UNAIDS, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, amfAR, and others are drawing attention to this growing problem.The Global Forum on MSM & HIV, an international collaboration among MSM groups and individuals in several countries, was established to coordinate and focus advocacy efforts. But effectively curtailing the spread of HIV infection among MSM will require heightened awareness, forceful leadership, and increased funding in all countries.

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Contributor: Anuradha Bhattacharjee
Published Date: May 8, 2008