Will the Global HIV Response Fail Gay and Bisexual Men and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men?

Overview

Journal J Int AIDS Soc

Specialty Infectious Diseases

Date 2016 Nov 24

PMID 27876454

Citations 17

Authors

George Ayala

Glenn-Milo Santos

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Introduction: Gay and bisexual men and other men who have sex with men are among the small number of groups for whom HIV remains uncontrolled worldwide. Although there have been recent and notable decreases in HIV incidence across several countries, prevalence and incidence is consistently higher or rising among men who have sex with men when compared with other groups.

Methods: In 2014, MSMGF (the Global Forum on MSM & HIV) conducted its third biennial Global Men's Health and Rights Study, an international, multilingual, web-based cross-sectional survey of men who have sex with men recruited through online convenience sampling. We tested hypothesized correlates (selected ) of successfully achieving each step along the HIV prevention and treatment continuum by fitting separate generalized estimating equation models adjusted for clustering by country in multivariate analyses. All models controlled for ability to meet basic financial needs, age, healthcare coverage, having a regular provider, region and country-level income.

Results: Higher provider discrimination and sexual stigma were associated with lower odds of perceived access to services, service utilization and virologic suppression. Conversely, accessing services from community-based organizations focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people; greater engagement in gay community; and comfort with healthcare providers were associated with higher odds of achieving steps along the prevention and treatment continuum.

Conclusions: To meet accelerated global HIV targets, global leaders must adopt a differentiated and bolder response, in keeping with current epidemiologic trends and community-based research. The HIV-related needs of gay and bisexual men and other men who have sex with men must be addressed openly, quickly and with sufficient resources to support evidence-based, community-led and human rights-affirming interventions at scale.

Citing Articles

Barriers to and enablers of the HIV services continuum among gay and bisexual men worldwide: Findings from the Global Men's Health and Rights Study.

Arreola S, Santos G, Solares D, Tohme J, Ayala G PLoS One. 2023; 18(5):e0281578.

PMID: 37141206 PMC: 10159196. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0281578.

Adolescent and young adult research across the HIV prevention and care continua: an international programme analysis and targeted review.

Calabrese S, Perkins M, Lee S, Allison S, Brown G, Jean-Philippe P J Int AIDS Soc. 2023; 26(3):e26065.

PMID: 36951058 PMC: 10034634. DOI: 10.1002/jia2.26065.

Scholarly literature in HIV-related lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender studies: A bibliometric analysis.

Nguyen T, Do A, Nguyen L, Vu G, Dam V, Latkin C Front Psychol. 2023; 14:1028771.

PMID: 36844310 PMC: 9945527. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1028771.

Persistent disparities in COVID-19-associated impacts on HIV prevention and care among a global sample of sexual and gender minority individuals.

Santos G, Hong C, Wilson N, Nutor J, Harris O, Garner A Glob Public Health. 2022; 17(6):827-842.

PMID: 35435149 PMC: 10953730. DOI: 10.1080/17441692.2022.2063362.

Enablers and Barriers to HIV Services for Gay and Bisexual Men in the COVID-19 Era: Fusing Data Sets from Two Global Online Surveys Via File Concatenation With Adjusted Weights.

Ayala G, Arreola S, Howell S, Hoffmann T, Santos G JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2022; 8(6):e33538.

PMID: 35377321 PMC: 9239571. DOI: 10.2196/33538.

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