The Secretary General of the

The Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) recently called on “all countries to live up to their commitments
to enact or enforce legislation outlawing discrimination against people living with HIV and members of vulnerable
groups” and further called on countries to “pass laws against homophobia.”1 His call to action was echoed by the
Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Margaret Chan, who told delegates to the 2008
International AIDS Conference held in Mexico City that “We must work much harder to fight stigma and discrimination,
including institutionalized discrimination.”2
The health sector can and should play an important role in addressing prevention, treatment and care of HIV and
other STIs among MSM, transgender people and their sexual partners. To this end, a three-day consultation was
held in Geneva from 15 to 17 September 2008. The purpose of the Consultation was to identify what more the
health sector should do (see Appendix 1 for the programme of the Consultation).
The specific objectives of the Consultation were:
• To define and describe the populations of MSM and transgender people who engage in same-sex behaviours
in different cultures and geographical regions;
• To examine the current epidemiology of HIV and other STIs among MSM and transgender people in different
geographical regions;
• To review past, current and planned behavioural and interventional studies among MSM;
• To define interventions, including models of service delivery, for the prevention and treatment of HIV and other
STIs among MSM; and
• To identify the best role for the health sector at the global, regional and country levels.
Forty-four participants from 26 countries attended the Consultation. They included members of civil society
organizations, representatives of ministries of health, activists, academics, clinicians and staff of international
nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) and bilateral agencies. Representatives from the Joint United Nations
Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF) and staff from WHO Headquarters and Regions also participated in the meeting (see Appendix 2
for the list of participants).