New Report on Gay Men & the HIV Treatment Cascade
Global consultation documents best practices, key principles, and practical approaches for engaging MSM in HIV treatment
Dear all,
Earlier this year, the MSMGF partnered with the Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation to host a global consultation on increasing engagement in the treatment cascade for gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM) living with HIV. The final report from this consultation is now available, focused on informing the program and research agenda for HIV diagnosis, linkage to care, retention in care, access to medicine, and viral suppression for MSM.
Bringing together 30 community leaders and HIV experts from around the world, many of them MSM living with HIV, this gathering helped document best practices, key principles, and practical approaches for optimizing HIV treatment. Discussions included a focus on optimizing provision of all aspects of HIV-related care and mitigating barriers to services, with an emphasis on legally and socially constrained environments. The meeting also produced a range of implementation science research questions that will ultimately help strengthen access to and delivery of HIV-related services among MSM.
The importance of resourcing community and community-led efforts and acknowledging their central role in the delivery of effective HIV-related care was stressed by all of the participants. Other key issues discussed during the consultation and highlighted in the report are:
- Variation in how and where care is delivered and the need for flexibility to maximize reach
- Social context and its influence on service delivery
- The need for equal partnerships between community-led and clinical services in care delivery initiatives
- Acceptability, accessibility, affordability, sensitivity, and quality of care services
- Ethical obligation of healthcare providers to serve in socially and legally constrained policy environments
- Meaningful involvement of MSM and MSM living with HIV in program planning and development, without exception
- Use of internet communications technology in service delivery models, especially in policy constrained settings
- Funding for community-led programs
The meeting and final report will help to inform the World Health Organization’s plan for operationalizing the agency’s 2013 HIV Treatment Guidelines and the 2014 Consolidated Guidelines on HIV Prevention, Diagnosis, Treatment and Care for Key Populations.
If you have any further questions regarding this report, please contact Ifeoma Udoh, Director of Monitoring and Evaluation, Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation at iudoh@pgaf.org.
Kindest regards,
The MSMGF