Guidance for the prevention and treatment of HIV and other sexually transmitted Infections among men who have sex with men and transgender people
The Department of HIV/AIDS is developing new health-sector guidance for men who have sex with men, transgender people, and sex workers
Men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people
In collaboration with UNDP, UNAIDS, the World Bank and the Global MSM Forum, WHO is developing an evidence-based package of recommended health-sector interventions entitled Guidance for the prevention and treatment of HIV and other sexually transmitted Infections among men who have sex with men and transgender people. Evidence and experience support the recommendation of a package of essential interventions for MSM and transgender people, including enhanced access to condoms and lubricants, testing and counseling, STI screening, and STI and HIV treatment.
To develop the guidelines, experts retrieved, analysed and graded the evidence according to recently established WHO procedures. The time-line for the development of the guidelines is summarized in Figure 1. The guidelines steering-group includes experts on HIV and sexually transmitted infections, civil society groups (men who have sex with men, transgender people and people living with HIV), national AIDS and STI programme managers, as well as representatives from the UNAIDS Secretariat and Cosponsors. The new guidance will be issued by the end of 2010 and will strengthen and support the health-sector response to the HIV epidemic among MSM and transgender individuals.
| Figure 1. | Time-line for the development of the guidelines | |
| 2009 | 1. Scope the work | √ |
| Sep-Dec '09 | 2. Formulate questions and choices of relevant outcomes | √ |
| Jan '10 | 3. WHO Guideline Committee Approval | √ |
| Feb-May '10 | 4. Retrieve evidence, evaluate and synthesize | √ |
| Apr '10 | 5. First informal working group meeting, Washington | √ |
| May-Jun '10 | 6. Prepare GRADE profiles & risk benefit tables & recommendations | √ |
| May '10 | 7. Identify Guideline Consensus Group (chair, consensus group, peer reviewers) | √ |
| Jun '10 | 8. Second informal working group meeting, Geneva | √ |
| Jul '10 | 9. Civil society consultation | |
| Sep '10 | 10. Global guideline consensus meeting, China | |
| Oct '10 | 11. External peer review | |
| Oct-Nov '10 | 12. Approval/posting of summary recommendations | |
| Dec-Feb '11 | 13. Finalize full guidelines - Publication, dissemination |