assessing the problems involved in creating an enhanced response to HIV

WHO has worked at the country level in China, assessing the problems involved in creating an
enhanced response to HIV among men who have sex with men and transgender people; in the
Russian Federation, supporting the implementation of second generation surveillance of men
who have sex with men and HIV issues; in Thailand, assessing access and use of HIV prevention
and care services for transgender people in Bangkok; and in Viet Nam, supporting the Ministry
of Health to review and map HIV and sexually transmitted infection prevention activities for
men who have sex with men and transgender people. UNESCO has supported a variety of
studies, including situational assessments of men who have sex with men, transgender people
and HIV-related issues, in a variety of countries in South-East Asia, including Cambodia, the
Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar and Viet Nam. UNFPA is planning to undertake
situational assessments relating to men who have sex with men and HIV in Burkina Faso, Côte
d’Ivoire and Senegal.
Significant policy and advocacy work, specifically addressing men who have sex with men,
transgender people and HIV issues, has been undertaken by UNDP in China. UNFPA has been
working in the Russian Federation on policy and attitudes towards addressing HIV-related issues
among men who have sex with men; in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, it plans to address male sex
work and in Viet Nam it is helping to coordinate HIV-related action for men who have sex with
men and transgender people. WHO has been active in China, Lithuania, Thailand and Ukraine,
advocating on a range of issues, which include safer sex issues for men who have sex with men
and transgender people, reducing stigma and discrimination against men who have sex with men
and transgender people, and donor support for HIV-related work with these groups.
In addition to work funded by the Programme Acceleration Fund, country-level work that
either specifically or partly addressed HIV-related issues among men who have sex with men and
transgender people was reported in Bhutan, Bolivia, Cambodia, China, Côte d’Ivoire, Ecuador,
Estonia, Kenya, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Myanmar, Nepal,
Pakistan, Panama, Romania, the Russian Federation, Senegal, Tajikistan, Thailand, Ukraine and Viet
Nam. The types of activity reported were diverse and included a range of technical support to
civil society and governments on sexuality, men who have sex with men, transgender people and
HIV-related issues, as well as work addressing public homophobia and injecting drug users.