HIV & AIDS

Originally appeared in GLOBAL HEALTH magazine.

Men who have sex with men (MSM) bear a disproportionate share of the HIV/AIDS burden in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, but data on and services for this population are woefully inadequate. With a better understanding of this marginalized community's needs, donors and implementers can help support effective policies and programs for MSM infected and affected by HIV.

In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, as in many parts of the world, the HIV epidemic among MSM is underreported and under”acknowledged. The lack of official reports on HIV among men who have sex with men might enable governments to avoid prioritizing or even offering interventions, and HIV programmers can fail to reach those most in need.

Without the data and analysis of MSM issues it is easy for governments and HIV/AIDS programmers to not develop MSM programs and interventions as: (a) no data means it can look like MSM is not a problem and therefore not a priority and (b) lack of recognition of the issue means that it is easy for governments'/programmers' own homophobia to get in the way of developing programming.

Next month in Vienna, Austria, thousands of activists, community workers, donors, health leaders, and government officials will gather for the VVIII International AIDS Conference.  This year’s theme is Rights here, right now: a mandate on the importance of health as a human right for all.  While it is easy to talk about health as a human right, it is much more difficult to deliver to diverse communities in some of the poorest countries around the world. 

Last year when President Obama announced his Global Health Initiative (GHI), he spoke about meeting the health needs of the world by leveraging current resources and integrating programs for greater health impact. Integrating HIV & AIDS services with other health services such as reproductive health (including family planning), TB, malaria, or maternal and child health increases effectiveness and ultimately sustainability. 

UNAIDS’s new campaign aims to eliminate mother to child transmission (MTCT) of HIV by the 2012 World Cup in Brazil. It is fantastic to see that UNAIDS is using the enthusiasm and media coverage of World Cup to draw attention to one of Africa’s most pressing health issues, perinatal transmission of HIV.

My colleague Jude Nwokikie, program manager of the Strengthening Pharmaceutical Systems (SPS) project in South Africa and Namibia declared, “The world is no longer in the mood to tolerate MTCT.”

Global Health TV visits Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, to see how MSH’s  systems approach at the community level results in better lives for people living with HIV & AIDS. Management Sciences for Health, an international nonprofit organization, uses proven approaches developed over four decades to help leaders, health managers, and communities in over 60 countries build stronger health systems for greater health impact.

Watch the video.