Many people at heightened risk for HIV have never been tested. Those who have self-tested for HIV often don’t go on to receive care or change their sexual behavior.
Allowing gay and bisexual men to donate blood would help alleviate chronic blood supply shortages in the U.S.
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In 1983, during the early days of the AIDS epidemic, the US Food and Drug Administration made the decision to ban gay men from donating blood. Now, 40 years later, it is dropping that rule.
The monkeypox pandemic has seen an increase in the use of the term “men who have sex with men.”
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The term ‘MSM’ allows public health interventions to gloss over the social, political and cultural complexities of identity. But it’s not without its limitations.
Monkeypox is transmitted mainly through direct contact with skin lesions, but the current outbreak is following patterns similar to STIs.
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Monkeypox is not considered an STI but is spreading among sexual partners. Adding sexual health strategies to the public health response is helpful, but there is a danger of stigmatizing MPXV.
People inquire about receiving a monkeypox vaccine at an outdoor walk-in clinic in Montréal on July 23, 2022. The World Health Organization has declared the virus a global health emergency.
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Some of the sexual moralising we saw with HIV is still with us. That makes it harder for men who have sex with men to come forward for vaccines and testing.
Vaccination can help reduce the risk of monkeypox infection.
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While the majority of monkeypox cases thus far have been recorded among men who have sex with men, everyone is still at risk of contracting the disease.
Monkeypox is from the same virus family as smallpox.
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Most cases in the current global outbreak are occurring among men who have sex with men. So how can this group and others who are at risk protect themselves?
Black men who have sex with men in Southern states have a low rate of using HIV prevention treatments.
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This finding suggests public health efforts will have to address the treatment barriers these men face – like poverty or homophobia – to meet the nation’s goal of ending the HIV epidemic by 2030.
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Stigma and criminalisation of same-sex relationships makes it difficult for transgender women and men who have sex with men to seek preventive services. This compounds their risk for HIV infection.
More than 15 000 researchers, activists and policymakers descend on Amsterdam this week for the 22nd International Aids Conference.
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South Africa’s data rollout of its pre-exposure prophylaxis shows that there is a relatively slow, but increasing, uptake. However, more needs to be done to target young women.
Pre-exposure prophylaxis is providing an exciting new innovation to tackle HIV prevention.
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Trials have shown that rates of HIV infection are reduced if people not infected with HIV take anti-retrovirals - known as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). But adherence to a daily dose is a problem.
In Malawi men who have sex with men can access healthcare services but they do not always get adequate treatment, care and support.
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Malawi and Tanzania have created programs to provide sexual and reproductive health services and HIV interventions. But men who have sex with men say it’s still difficult to access care.
Professor of medicine and deputy director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town