Conclusions and recommendations

Conclusions and recommendations
A meeting held on 15–17 September 2008 in Geneva brought together participants from the World Health Organization
(WHO) and its United Nations (UN) partners along with representatives from 26 countries to discuss the role that the
health sector can and should play in addressing prevention, treatment and care of HIV and other STIs among MSM,
transgender people and their sexual partners. The following key principles were agreed on at the meeting:
• Adopting a rights-based approach guarantees the human rights of MSM and transgender people, and will
ensure that they and their male and female sexual partners have the right to information and commodities that
enable them to protect themselves against HIV and other STIs, protection from discrimination and criminalization,
as well as information on where to seek appropriate care for these infections.
• Knowing the epidemic and the response to it means knowing where infections are occurring, who is at risk or
vulnerable and who is infected. It also means understanding the local, social and structural determinants of risk.
• The HIV and STI epidemics among MSM and transgender people cannot be addressed by the health sector
alone. It requires partnerships and engagement both across sectors (particularly with the legal and education
sectors) and, crucially, with the MSM and transgender communities.