More than the virus : HIV prevention and men who have sex with men living with HIV

E. Chamberlain

HIV prevention for Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) has largely focused on ensuring HIV negative MSM (MSM-) remain negative. MSM living with HIV (MSM+) have been cast into the role of "vectors of transmission", and prevention programmes have mostly ignored the wide spectrum of prevention needs that MSM+ have that go beyond disclosing their HIV status to their (assumed) MSM-sexual partners. A number of organisations have recently attempted to develop a comprehensive approach for MSM HIV prevention that can be used as a quality programming standard both at the regional and local level. This has been supplemented in Asia by the development of a specific comprehensive package of services and programmes to support HIV prevention, treatment and care among MSM and transgender people. This policy brief examines current best practice and guidance for MSM programming in Asia and the Pacific. It determines whether they meet the needs of MSM+ HIV prevention and, if not, how they could be enhanced to do so.