NEW GLOBAL AIDS BILL PROVIDES FIRST-EVER PREVENTION SERVICES
FOR MEN WHO HAVE SEX WITH MEN

PEPFAR TO FUND SYSTEMS THAT CONSIDER STIGMA, RISKS IN IMPACTED POPULATION

Los Angeles, Calif., July 29, 2008 -- President Bush tomorrow is scheduled to sign into law historic measures -- put forward by advocacy organizations including AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) and and Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) -- to provide prevention services targeting men who have sex with men (MSM) through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

The bill, which commits $48 billion toward fighting HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in some of the world’s hardest hit countries over the next five years, also overturns an outdated U. S. travel and immigration statutory ban on HIV-positive individuals.

While men who have sex with men remain at heightened risk for HIV around the world, the original PEPFAR program (2003-2008) did not directly address MSM. The new bill calls for the establishment of appropriate systems to gather epidemiological and social science data on HIV. It also calls for the creation of systems to evaluate the effectiveness of prevention efforts among men who have sex with men, with due consideration to stigma and risks associated with disclosure.

"We can hope that with these new provisions, HIV in Africa will now be fought on every front," said Craig E. Thompson, executive director of AIDS Project Los Angeles. "Current HIV prevention efforts are not reaching men who have sex with men, to the detriment of both men and women."

Studies show that men who have sex with men are on average 19 times more likely to be infected with HIV than the general population in low- and middle-income countries. Yet in a 2006 policy brief, UNAIDS estimated that globally, less than one in 20 MSM have access to HIV prevention, treatment and care. Meanwhile, various studies have shown MSM also have sex with women, providing a bridge for HIV transmission in the wider population.

Ten of out 15 PEPFAR-funded countries have anti-sodomy laws for men, which interfere with or prevent working with MSM. Even in countries with no legislation on homosexuality, such as Côte d’Ivoire, a PEPFAR-funded country, MSM struggle with human rights abuses and limited access to health care. In June 2008, three activists were arrested at the HIV Implementers’ Meeting in Uganda, also a PEPFAR-funded country, for peacefully protesting statements by a Ugandan government official that no funds would be directed toward HIV programs targeting MSM. One of those protesters was picked up on July 25 and held overnight by Ugandan police, who cut him around the hands and tortured him with a machine that applies extreme pressure to the body, preventing breathing and causing severe pain, according to the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission.

"Homophobia contributes to the spread of HIV among men who have sex with men, drives them underground and blocks the development of appropriate programs for them," Thompson said. "Access to information and health services is a basic human right that can no longer be denied."

African political and public health leaders released a report at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on AIDS (UNGASS) in June 2008 calling for prevention targeting MSM and increased research on the subject. The report, titled "Securing Our Future: Report of the Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa," was co-chaired by Kenneth Kaunda, former president of Zambia, and Pascoal Mocumbi, former prime minister of Mozambique. It explicitly acknowledges the hidden epidemic among men who have sex with men, and calls for further research on HIV epidemics among MSM in sub-Saharan Africa and prevention efforts that focus on averting HIV transmission among MSM and their female partners.

"With PEPFAR’s provisions and the forward-thinking efforts of African leaders, we have the opportunity to protect highly impacted populations," Thompson said. "When health researchers include careful consideration of same-sex behavior, we can create effective programs and begin to establish a baseline against which future progress can be measured."

APLA acknowledges the Congressional offices that worked to include this important language in the bill, especially Congressman Howard Berman (D - Calif.) and Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D - Calif.). APLA also commends the leadership who guided the bill through Congress, both the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, led by Chairman Berman and Ranking Minority Member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R -- Fla.), and the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, led by Chairman Joe Biden (D - Del.) and Ranking Minority Member Richard Lugar (R - Ind.).

AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA), one of the largest non-profit AIDS service organizations in the United States, provides bilingual direct services, prevention education and leadership on HIV/AIDS-related policy and legislation. Marking 25 years of service in 2008, APLA is a community-based, volunteer-supported organization with local, national and global reach. For more information, visit www.apla.org.

APLA also serves as the Secretariat for the Global Forum on MSM and HIV (MSMGF), working worldwide against HIV for the health and human rights of men who have sex with men. For information on the MSMGF’s pre-conference before the XVII International AIDS Conference, please visit: http://www.msmandhiv.org/Preconference.htm.