Jorge Saavedra, a Mexican federal official, holds a photo of his partner Fernando. In one of the most memorable moments of the International AIDS Conference, Saavedra came out publicly Aug. 5 and displayed the photo in an impassioned speech to 5,000 people. (Photo by Marco Ugarte/AP)
Gay men across the globe hardest hit by HIV Homophobia a major obstacle to prevention efforts
Gay
and
bisexual
men
have
always
been
at
the
center
of
the
HIV/AIDS
crisis
in
America,
but
the
global
epidemic
is
typically
framed
as
most
affecting
heterosexuals
in
developing
nations.
Data
unveiled
last
week
at
the
17th
International
AIDS
Conference
show
that
around
the
world,
men
who
have
sex
with
men,
like
their
U.S.
counterparts,
are
the
group
hardest
hit
by
the
deadly
disease.
“One
thing
that
was
clear
is
that
men
who
have
sex
with
men
in
every
country
that
it
has
been
studied
in
are
10
to
30
times
more
likely
to
have
HIV
than
the
general
male
population,”
said
Walt
Senterfitt,
an
AIDS
activist
with
the
Community
HIV/AIDS
Mobilization
Project.
The
trend
holds
true
across
Asian
countries
such
as
Vietnam
and
Cambodia,
African
nations
such
as
Kenya,
Senegal
and
Zimbabwe,
and
in
Latin
America,
where
gay
and
bisexual
men
account
for
a
majority
of
new
HIV
cases.
“Men
who
have
sex
with
men
have
long
been
getting
infected
in
these
countries,”
said
Senterfitt,
who
attended
the
International
AIDS
Conference
in
Mexico
City,
Mexico.
“It’s
just
nobody
was
looking
for
it.”
The
seven-day
conference
was
one
of
the
first
to
shine
a
spotlight
on
the
experiences
of
gay
and
bisexual
men
across
the
globe.
In
one
of
the
most
moving
moments,
Jorge
Saavedra,
head
of
Mexico’s
AIDS
prevention
program,
came
out
publicly
for
the
first
time
during
a
speech
calling
for
more
funding
for
prevention
efforts
targeting
gay
men.
After
the
speech,
he
was
thronged
by
men
from
Africa
and
India,
the
Associated
Press
reported.
“They
told
me
that
I
was
a
hero,
and
that
they
wished
they
could
do
the
same
in
their
countries,”
Saavedra,
who
drew
applause
when
he
displayed
his
partner’s
photo
during
the
speech,
told
AP.
COMBATING
HOMOPHOBIA
The
conference
highlighted
gay-related
research
from
Ukraine,
Cuba,
Malaysia
and
many
other
countries.
Complicating
HIV
prevention
efforts
is
that
homosexuality
remains
either
illegal
or
so
taboo
that
it
provokes
violence
in
certain
parts
of
the
world,
highlighting
“the
need
for
supporting
basic
human
rights
for
men
who
have
sex
with
men
in
many
countries
in
the
world,”
Senterfitt
said.
The
silence
around
homosexuality
is
a
severe
impediment
to
gay
men
in
those
countries
receiving
effective
HIV
prevention
education.
When
researcher
Michelle
Geiss
sought
permission
to
do
a
gay-related
study
in
the
African
nation
of
Togo,
government
officials
told
her
there
were
no
homosexuals
in
the
country,
Geiss
said
at
the
conference.
When
Geiss
located
gay
men
in
Togo,
where
homosexuality
is
still
illegal,
some
of
the
study
participants
re-ported
believing
they
were
not
at
risk
of
contracting
HIV
because
they
did
not
sleep
with
women,
and
they
be-lieved
it
was
a
heterosexual
disease.
But
there
are
also
bright
spots
in
the
international
fight
against
HIV
in
gay
and
bisexual
men,
such
as
in
Cameroon,
a
West
African
country
that
has
cut
its
HIV
infection
rate
among
gay
and
bisexual
men
by
almost
50
percent
in
the
last
six
years.
Also,
more
than
1,500
gay
and
bisexual
men
enrolled
in
a
study
in
Peru
that
administers
anti-AIDS
drugs
to
HIV-negative
individuals
with
the
hopes
that
the
drugs
will
prevent
them
from
contracting
the
disease.
“The
ability
to
enroll
people
in
a
country
like
that
where
machismo
is
so
strong
and
where
gay
organizations
are
still
relatively
new
shows
the
effectiveness
of
hard
work,”
said
Senterfitt,
who
is
also
an
epidemiologist
with
the
Los
Angeles
Department
of
Public
Health.
RENEWED
FIGHT
IN U.S.
While
drawing
attention
to
the
plight
of
gay
and
bisexual
men
across
the
globe,
activists
also
used
the
conference
to
again
call
for
a
greater
intensity
in
the
fight
against
HIV
in
U.S.
gay
men,
particularly
black
gay
men.
Recent
Centers
for
Disease
Control
&
Prevention
figures
show
gay
and
bisexual
men
account
for
53
percent
of
HIV
infections
in
the
U.S.
in
2006,
and
are
the
only
demographic
experiencing
“consistent
increases”
in
HIV
infection
rates.
“It
does
not
have
to
be
this
way,”
said
Kevin
Fenton,
director
of
the
CDC’s
HIV
prevention
division.
“We
need
to
insure
that
HIV
does
not
become
a
rite
of
passage
for
gay
and
bisexual
men.
“We
know
that
we
need
to
have
more
culturally
competent
interventions
moving
forward,
and
part
of
that
cultural
competence
will
be
looking
at
interventions
that
focus
on
structural
factors
which
address
poverty,
which
address
housing,
which
address
racism
and
which
address
homophobia
and
which
address
homelessness
in
our
society,”
added
Fenton,
who
is
gay.
Fenton’s
statement
about
the
“structural
factors”
of
HIV
prevention
echo
the
calls
by
activists
for
the
government
to
recognize
many
factors
beyond
sexual
acts
help
fuel
the
domestic
epidemic.
“What
we
as
activists
have
been
working
for
and
promoting
for
years
has
now
become
official
policy,”
Senterfitt
said.
“The
question
now
is
will
they
walk
the
walk.
I
think
the
CDC
needs
to
put
their
money
where
their
mouth
is.”
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