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“In the Fell Clutch of Circumstance”: HIV and Men Who Have Sex With Men in Sub-Saharan Africa

  • The Science of Prevention (JD Stekler, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Men who have sex with men (MSM) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have been repeatedly found to have high risk of HIV infection, and in spite of the differing nature of the HIV epidemic in the general population between East and Southern Africa, and West and Central Africa, MSM are disproportionately affected by HIV across the entire region. Recent research has examined the drivers of HIV risk, and the dynamics of the MSM HIV epidemic in greater detail. However, this growing knowledge has generally not been translated into effective HIV prevention interventions. In part, this is due to the highly stigmatised and frequently criminalised nature of same-sex sexualities in much of the region. Without human-rights-based advocacy targeting governments and interventions aiming to decrease stigma and homophobia, translating research into effective HIV interventions for MSM in SSA at the scale needed to reduce HIV transmission in this population remains highly unlikely.

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Conflict of Interest

Geoffrey Jobson, Helen Struthers and James McIntyre declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Anova Health Institute, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Geoffrey Jobson, Helen Struthers & James McIntyre

  2. Division of Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    Helen Struthers

  3. School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    James McIntyre

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  1. Geoffrey Jobson
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  2. Helen Struthers
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  3. James McIntyre
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Correspondence to Geoffrey Jobson.

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Jobson, G., Struthers, H. & McIntyre, J. “In the Fell Clutch of Circumstance”: HIV and Men Who Have Sex With Men in Sub-Saharan Africa. Curr HIV/AIDS Rep 12, 164–172 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11904-014-0249-1

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