Men who have Sex with Men

What group of the population is nearly 9 times more vulnerable to HIV infection in many developing countries but are almost never targeted by HIV prevention activities? According to recent research, and an editorial from the AIDSTAR portal: men who have sex with men (MSM).

The term is used to describe people who engage in a particular behavior rather than a label for sexual identity, which at times can differ. MSM can also have sex with women, or may do so for only a short period of time, but the key is that they are not always identified as people who engage in sexual relations with other men which can make them difficult to identify. To complicate things further, the behavior is frequently illegal in developing countries making it difficult to launch effective prevention programs.

Men who have sex with men are very rampant in Nigeria. Unfortunately, culture and society make it very difficult for people to express their sexual orientation confidently. unless this changes, anyone could be at risk. Studies of African men who have sex with men have shown that unprotected anal sex is commonplace, and HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men is as high as 25.3% in some west African countries. In Kenya, a country where homosexuality is illegal, HIV prevalence has reached as high as 43% among some groups of men who have sex with men.

Although statistics like these give an idea of the impact that AIDS is having on men who have sex with men, data is still extremely scarce in many countries e.g Nigeria. This is largely due to the fact that men who have sex with men often have no separate social identity, and are simply counted as part of the general population. It is also due to the reluctance of governments to acknowledge men who have sex with men, and to monitor this group. Another factor blurring statistics is that it’s not always possible to tell how a man became infected. If he is having sex with women as well, he may well report that HIV was transmitted to him from a woman (or even if he is only having sex with men, he may lie because of stigma). This can distort figures

The AIDSTAR initiative, supported by USAID, seeks to begin to fill the gap in terms of what we know about MSM and what we know works in MSM prevention and control.

Reference:

http://www.aidstar-one.com/focus_areas/prevention/prevention_resources/emerging_areas/hard-to-reach_men_who_have_sex_men