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The Emerging HIV Epidemic among Men Who have Sex with Men in Tamil Nadu, India: Geographic Diffusion and Bisexual Concurrency

2010; Springer Science+Business Media; Volume: 14; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/s10461-010-9711-2

1573-3254

Sunil S. Solomon, Aylur K. Srikrishnan, Frangiscos Sifakis, Shruti H. Mehta, Canjeevaram K. Vasudevan, Pachamuthu Balakrishnan, Kenneth H. Mayer, Suniti Solomon, David D. Celentano,

Sex work and related issues

In India, men who have sex with men (MSM) remain hidden because anal intercourse was criminalized and marriage socially required. We characterize HIV/STI prevalence among MSM in Tamil Nadu. Eligible participants were recruited using respondent-driven sampling in eight cities (n = 721). Median age was 28, 34% were married and 40% self-identified as homosexual. Median number of male partners in the prior year was 15; 45% reported any unprotected anal intercourse (UAI). HIV, herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2), chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) and syphilis prevalence were 9, 26, 2 and 8%, respectively; among married men, all were higher: 14, 32, 3 and 11% (p < 0.01 for HIV and HSV-2). Less education, HSV-2, more male partners, UAI and not having a main male partner were associated with HIV prevalence. The high STI and UAI prevalence may lead to a burgeoning HIV epidemic among MSM, reinforcing the need for focused preventive measures incorporating complex circumstances.