HIV and Access to Health Care among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Malawi | Center for Public Health and Human Rights

Principal Investigator: Stefan Baral

Co-Investigators and/or partners: Andrea Wirtz, Gift Trapence, Vincent Jumbe, Dunker Kamba, Adamson Muula, Center for Development of People, Malawi College of Medicine

Dates of project: 2010 – ongoing

Description: Gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM) are at increased risk of HIV infection. Criminalization and stigma of same sex behaviors serve as critical barriers to access and engagement in health services, HIV testing and HIV care. We have partnered with CEDEP and the Malawi College of Medicine to conduct the first epidemiologic studies of HIV among MSM in Malawi, beginning in Blantyre and Lilongwe and expanding to five more sites across the country. Since these studies, we our work has expanded to develop and test the feasibility of a combination HIV prevention intervention and pilot the use of community-based CD4 point-of-care tests for early engagement in care and treatment for MSM who test HIV positive.

Funding sources: USAID, UNDP, and the Malawi Dept. of Nutrition and HIV/AIDS

Publications:

Wirtz AL, Trapence G, Jumbe V, Umar E, Ketende S, Kamba D, Berry M, Strömdahl S, Beyrer C, Baral S. Feasibility of a combination HIV prevention program for men who have sex with men in Blantyre, Malawi. JAIDS 2015; 70 (2): 155-62.
Wirtz AL, Kamba D, Jumbe V, Trapence G, Gubin R, Umar E, Strömdahl S, Beyrer C, Baral S. A Qualitative Assessment of Health Seeking Practices Among and Provision Practices For Men Who Have Sex With Men in Malawi. BMC Int Health Hum Rights May 2014.
Wirtz AL, Jumbe V, Kamba D, Trapence G, Umar E, Ketende S, Berry M, Strömdahl S, Beyrer C, Baral S. HIV among men who have sex with men in Malawi: elucidating HIV prevalence and correlates of infection to inform HIV prevention JIAS Dec 2013
Fay H, Baral S, Trapence G, Motimedi F, Umar E, Iipinge S, Dausab F, Wirtz A, Beyrer C: Stigma, Health Care Access, and HIV Knowledge Among Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) in Malawi, Namibia, and Botswana. AIDS Behav. 2010 Dec 10. PMID: 21153432
Wirtz AL, Trapence G, Gama V, Kamba D, Chalera R, Klein L, Kumwenda R, Chikoko T, Mangochi M, Baral S. Final report to UN Joint Team on HIV&AIDS in Malawi through UNDP: HIV Prevalence and Sociobehavioral Characteristics among Men Who Have Sex with Across Seven Sites in Malawi. Johns Hopkins University and the Center for Development of People. Updated 26 September 2015.