HIV Care Denied to Most MSM in Asia-Pacific Region

Nearly 90 percent of men who have sex with men in the Asia-Pacific region are denied HIV care because of regional laws criminalizing male homosexual activity, according to a U.N.-backed report written about in BBC News.

According to the report in the BBC article, gays and bisexuals comprise between 10 and 30 percent of HIV/AIDS cases in most Asia-Pacific countries, but 19 out of 48 of those countries criminalized gay male sex.

In some countries, the punishment is death. In others, criminalization results in extortion, harassment and violence. As a result, HIV rates are increasing.

“The effectiveness of the HIV response will depend not just on the sustained scale up of HIV prevention, treatment and care, but on whether the legal and social environment support or hinder programmes for those who are most vulnerable,” wrote Mandeep Dhaliwal, of the U.N. Development Programme, which coproduced the report with the Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


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