AIDS 2010 - Vienna 18-23 July 2010 - XVIII International AIDS Conference

Managing Multiple Identities: "Bridging" Populations	WEAD04

Type:

Oral Abstract Session

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Location:

SR 5

Schedule:

16:30 - 18:00, 21.07.2010

Code:

WEAD04

Chairs:

Eric Fleutelot, France
Steave Nemande, Cameroon

Presentations in this session:

16:30
WEAD0401
Slides with audio Introduction
Presented by Steave Nemande, Cameroon

16:40
WEAD0402
Abstract
Slides with audio "I don't tell anybody that I am married": understanding the vulnerabilities and associated HIV risks of Indian men having sex with men who are married to women
Presented by Sandeep Mane, India
S. Mane¹, M. Mimiaga^2,3, S. Safren^2,3, M. Sivasubramanian¹, P. Case², C. Johnson², V. Anand¹, A. Kavi¹, A. Risbud⁴, R. Gangakhedkar⁴, K. Mayer^2,5
¹The Humsafar Trust, Mumbai, India, ²Fenway Health, The Fenway Institute, Boston, United States, ³Harvard Medical School / Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States, ⁴National AIDS Research Institute, Indian Council of Medical Research, Pune, India, ⁵Brown Medical School/Miriam Hospital, Providence, United States

16:55
WEAD0403
Abstract
Slides with audio Deconstructing the HIV transmission bridge: which male clients are having unprotected sex with female sex workers and with their wives?
Presented by Thomas L. Patterson, United States
T.L. Patterson^1,2, M. Gallardo³, C. Anderson⁴, S.J. Semple¹, S. Goldenberg⁴, S.A. Strathdee⁴
¹University of California, San Diego, Psychiatry, La Jolla, United States, ²Veterans' Affairs Medical Center, La Jolla, United States, ³CAPASITS (Centros Ambulatorios de Prevención y Atención en SIDA e ITS), Tijuana, Mexico, ⁴University of California, San Diego, Division of Global Public Health, Medicine, La Jolla, United States

17:10
WEAD0404
Abstract
Slides with audio One-to-one risk reduction conversations: a mechanism to improve risk perception among Jamaica's men who have sex with men population
Presented by Sannia Sutherland, Jamaica
S. Sutherland, L. Byfield, N. Cooper
Ministry of Health, National HIV/STI Programme, Kingston, Jamaica

17:25
WEAD0405
Abstract
Slides with audio "It makes us dare to do what we did not dare to do before": amphetamine-type stimulant use and HIV/STI risk behavior among young female sex workers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Presented by Lisa Maher, Australia
L. Maher^1,2, P. Phlong^1,2, J. Mooney-Somers¹, K. Sichan³, T. Masy³, M.-C. Couture⁴, N. Sansothy⁵, E. Stein⁴, K. Page⁴, Young Women's Health Study Collaborative
¹National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, Sydney, Australia, ²University of New South Wales, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Sydney, Australia, ³Cambodian Women's Development Agency, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, ⁴University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, United States, ⁵Institute for HIV, AIDS, Dermatology and STDs, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

17:40
WEAD0406
Abstract
Slides with audio Concurrent multiple health risk behavior among adolescents in the Luangnamtha Province, Lao PDR
Presented by Vanphanom Sychareun, Lao People's Democratic Republic
V. Sychareun
University of Health Sciences, Faculty of Postgraduate Studies & Research, Vientiane Capital, Lao People's Democratic Republic

Rapporteur reports

Track F report by Dan ALLMAN

This Wednesday afternoon session explored bridging populations. In the context of the World AIDS Conference, bridging populations are defined as those that may be seen as having the potential to transmit HIV or STIs from a high-risk population to a less risky one.

Moderator Steave Nemande began the session by suggesting that in some regards the issues discussed in this session were not about individual identities or about local or community behaviours but rather about the global human right to sexuality, behavior and identity regardless of its specifics.

In a presentation describing the vulnerabilities and associated HIV risks of men in India who have sex with men (MSM) yet who are married to women, India’s Sandeep Mane indicted that MSM in India “face unique, complex, and culturally specific stressors” and that HIV risk behaviors occur within context with these stressors.

Jamaica’s Sannia Sutherland delivered a paper describing risk reduction conversations as a mechanism to improve risk perceptions among Jamaica's MSM. Among the findings was the role of homophobia in limiting disclosure and subsequently contributing to at-risk bridging behaviour.

Australia’s Lisa Maher presented a paper exploring the influences of amphetamine-type stimulant use and HIV/STI risk behavior among young female sex workers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The use of this substance was seen to provide a functional sense of power to the women consuming it, allowing them to see more clients and accrue greater profit. It contributed to a sense of bravado also, facilitating engagement in behaviours that they might have difficulty engaging in under other contexts.

Vanphanom Sychareun delivered a paper describing the concurrent multiple health risk behaviors among adolescents in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. In this study, higher education and school attendance were protective factors for both boys and girls. Further, adolescents who were more connected with their peers than with their parents, especially peers with negative behaviors, were more likely to practice risky health-related behaviors.

Thomas Patterson of the United States sought to deconstruct the HIV transmission bridge through an examination of male clients of female sex workers who were having unprotected sex with both sex workers and with their wives. Patterson described his sample as “bridgers,” contrasting this with “non-bridgers.”

This very language seemed to contradict the statement made earlier by moderator Nemande: that labeling individual or group identity relative to the behaviors men engaged in could contravene the notion of a global human right to freedom of sexuality divorced separate from behavior or identity.

Track D report by Lucie CLUVER

This panel saw some interesting presentations on the characteristics of HIV transmission across different population groups.

Sandeep Mane talked about MSM in India, where social pressure drives many into marriage, forcing them to conceal homosexual activities. Thomas L. Patterson presented research about clients of sex workers in Tijuana, Mexico, exploring characteristics of those who have unprotected sex with sex workers as well as steady partners. Emphasizing the need to create condom interventions for clients, it appears to be crucial to get them to worry about their own health. Sannia Sutherland reported on the insights gained from one-to-one counseling interventions for MSM in Jamaica, highlighting that the homophobic climate in the country prevents MSM from receiving information, thus leading to underestimation of HIV risk. Lisa Maher spoke about methamphetamine use among sex workers in Cambodia and the worrying association with high-risk sex practices, which is not taken into account by conventional interventions to negotiate condom use.