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Married men who have sex with men: the bridge to HIV prevention in Mumbai, India

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International Journal of Public Health

Abstract

Objectives

The present study compared the sexual behaviours of married and unmarried men, in Mumbai, India, who have sex with men.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional analysis (comparing socio-demographic, behavioural and clinical data) of 88 married and 423 unmarried MSM.

Results

Even though MSM are single at younger ages, they are more likely to be married later in life and carry their risky sexual behaviours to this changed social milieu.

Conclusions

Married MSM had high-risk behaviours with both men and women; they form an important intervention group for HIV prevention. The interventions will not only reduce the transmission in the male-to-male sexual group, but will also have an effect on the male-to-female transmission of HIV.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the services of the outreach workers for assistance with data collection. One of the co-authors (MSS) was funded by the CIHR-IHSPR Fellowship and CIHR-RRSPQ Public Health Training Programme for his doctoral studies at McGill University. The Humsafar Trust would like to acknowledge support from Mumbai Districts AIDS Control Society. We thank Dr. Abby Lippman for her editorial suggestions in a previous version.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Correspondence to Maninder Singh Setia.

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Setia, M.S., Sivasubramanian, M., Anand, V. et al. Married men who have sex with men: the bridge to HIV prevention in Mumbai, India. Int J Public Health 55, 687–691 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-010-0173-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-010-0173-0

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