access to appropriate HIV prevention

Goal and principles
The goal of this framework is to enable UNAIDS to facilitate and support the achievement of
universal access to appropriate HIV prevention, care, treatment and support for men who have
sex with men and transgender people. The UNAIDS Secretariat and the UNAIDS Cosponsors
recognize that universal access to appropriate HIV programmes for men who have sex with
men and transgender people is a crucial part of achieving universal access to HIV prevention,
treatment, care and support as a whole. This approach aims to reduce the incidence of HIV
everywhere, while protecting the health and rights of not only these marginalized groups but also
their female sexual partners and the rest of the population.
This strategy is anchored in three key guiding principles.
Actions must be grounded in an understanding of, and commitment to, human rights.
Stigma and discrimination against men who have sex with men and transgender
people is common in much of the world. Same-sex behaviour between consenting
adult men is illegal in 86 countries, in seven of which it is punishable by death17.
Discriminatory laws, attitudes and behaviours undermine effective programming and
must be challenged and revised when the opportunity arises. A rights-based approach
will ensure that men who have sex with men, transgender people and their female
sexual partners can exercise their right to information and commodities, enabling
them to protect themselves against HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, as