A mathematical model developed by the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University shows that developing effective ‘combination prevention’ programmes for men who have sex with men (MSM), including both biomedical and behavioural interventions, would significantly reduce the scale of the HIV epidemic in many countries.

In areas like Latin America, where the epidemic is mainly driven by sex between men, providing comprehensive prevention to MSM could cut overall HIV prevalence by almost 50%, a pre-conference organised by the  Global forum for MSM and HIV heard.

The findings, by researcher Chris Beyrer, were presented at the Be Heard! pre-conference for MSM attended  by around 700 delegates – see this report for more from the meeting.

Stephen Lewis, the former UN special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, who also addressed the meeting, hailed the model as the first evidence hard enough to persuade reluctant politicians that they had to address the prevention needs of MSM in their countries.

Read the complete article on aidsmap.com.