MSM in Sub-Saharan Africa: Health, Access and HIV

Within the context of an uncontrolled epidemic among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Sub-Saharan Africa and new attempts to scale-up MSM-targeted programming, this policy brief aims to address some of these gaps by examining current access to basic HIV prevention and treatment services among MSM in Sub-Saharan Africa. These findings combine the quantitative and qualitative data from the 2012 Global Men’s Health and Rights (GMHR) study, and interviews with LGBT-led CBOs across six countries. The brief concludes with recommendations for action to support the successful scale-up of MSM-targeted HIV programs in the region.

Media:

Download msminssapolicybrief.pdf (666.41 KB)

Promoting the Health of Men Who Have Sex with Men Worldwide: a Training Curriculum for Providers

The MSMGF and Johns Hopkins University in 2014 launched a new international training curriculum designed to give healthcare providers the cultural competency and clinical skills necessary to meet the health needs of gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM). Following the announcement of the World Health Organization’s new Consolidated Guidelines for Key Populations, the curriculum is also intended to serve as a critical vehicle to ensure the reach of WHO’s efforts at the country level.

Consisting of nine modules and covering a wide range of clinically relevant topics, the curriculum’s content was shaped and guided by a group of 15 technical experts, scientists, physicians, psychologists, program implementers and community members from around the world. The introductory modules are designed to help providers gain a broad understanding of the contexts in which MSM navigate their healthcare needs. Subsequent modules offer specific provider-led strategies for increasing access to and quality of services, such as creating an enabling clinical environment, taking an appropriate sexual history, and managing HIV and other STIs among MSM effectively.

Media:

Download promoting-the-health-of-MSM-worldwide.pdf (6.37 MB)

HIV and Human Rights in Southern and East Africa

HIV and Human Rights in Southern and East: 2014 Report

The ARASA HIV and Human Rights in Southern and East African, 2014 Report was officially launched by Hon. Michael Kirby at the Human Rights Networking zone during the 2014 International Aids Conference in Melbourne, Australia. The report examines the legal and regulatory framework for responding to HIV and AIDS in countries in Southern and East Africa in order to determine whether:

laws, regulations and policies protect and promote the rights of all people, including key populations in the context of HIV and AIDS; and
populations are aware of their rights, are able to access justice and are able to enforce their rights in the context of HIV and AIDS.

The report identifies and analyses both national and regional findings to identify significant developments in creating and enabling legal and regulatory frameworks for key and emerging human rights issues and also provides country snapshots for 18 countries with information on universal access and human rights and recommendations for improvement that are based largely on the recommendations of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law.

HIV/AIDS & Human Rights In Southern Africa: an Advocacy Resource and Training Manual

HIV/AIDS & Human Rights In Southern Africa: An Advocacy Resource & Training Manual

The 2008 manual published by ARASA is a plain language guide to HIV/AIDS and human rights in the Southern African region. It is aimed at a wide range of people, such as paralegals, lawyers, social workers, counsellors, people working in AIDS service organisations (ASOs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), educators and trade union members. It gives readers practical information on how law and policy can protect and promote human rights in the context of HIV/AIDS, and how the laws and policies in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries have met this challenge. It also looks at ways to strengthen a rights-based response to HIV and AIDS in Southern Africa.

Year of publication:

2008

Media:

Download HIV-Human-Rights-SA.pdf (5.3 MB)

The Economic Cost of Homophobia and the Exclusion of LGBT People: A Case Study of India

What does exclusion cost? This documents illustrates preliminary findings of a case study that developed and tested an economic model to measure the cost of excluding sexual minorities, especially the LGBT community. The model examines workplace discrimination, health disparities in HIV, suicide, and depression, and concludes that they could cost societies billions of dollars.

Media:

Download economic-costs-homophobia-lgbt-exlusion.pdf (1.64 MB)

Access to HIV Prevention and Treatment for Men Who Have Sex with Men

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation commissioned the Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF) to identify barriers and facilitators of PrEP uptake among MSM globally. The MSMGF took this as an opportunity to strengthen understanding of the structural-, community-, and individual-level factors that influence access to services for MSM more broadly, placing challenges to access within the context of lived experiences and concerns of MSM. Toward this goal, the MSMGF developed a global multilingual online survey to examine barriers and facilitators to service access for MSM around the world.

This report first describes the methods and results of the online survey, followed by the methods and results of the focus group discussions. These sections are followed by a discussion section that explores the barriers and facilitators revealed by quantitative data in the survey, as well as the broader context of these barriers and facilitators as revealed in the focus group discussions. The report ends with a look forward at future directions.

Media:

Download access-to-HIV-prevention-and-treatment-for-MSM.pdf (1.33 MB)

Advancing the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Human Rights of Men who have Sex with Men Living With HIV

Published in 2010 by GNP+ and MSMGF, Advancing the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Human Rights of Men Who Have Sex with Men Living with HIV is a detailed and comprehensive report that describes the key areas of policy and practice change needed to advance the sexual and reproductive health and human rights of people living with HIV.

The report is also available in French and Spanish.

Media:

Download msm-guide-english.pdf (396.32 KB)

Faire progresser les droits humains et de santé sexuelle et reproductive des hommes ayant des rapports sexuels avec des hommes vivant avec le VIH

Faire progresser les droits humains et de santé sexuelle et reproductive des hommes ayant des rapports sexuels avec des hommes vivant avec le VIH.

Media:

Download msm-guide-french.pdf (399.28 KB)