Toronto, 15 August 2006 - In response to the fact that, globally, one in 10 men who have sex with men (MSM) have access to basic HIV/AIDS prevention services and even fewer have access to HIV/AIDS care and support, a group of activists today announced the launch of the Global Forum on MSM & HIV.

Formed in advance of the XVI International AIDS Conference at "MSM & HIV: Advancing a Global Agenda for Gay Men and Other Men who have Sex with Men" - a meeting of 300 activists, researchers and development workers from high and low income countries on every continent - the Forum will coordinate a global response to the enormous gaps in funding and services that currently exist for MSM living with and at risk for HIV/AIDS.

Developed with the input of activists from Australia to Zimbabwe as well as policymakers such as Peter Piot, executive director of UNAIDS, the Global Forum will marshal the efforts of individuals and organizations from all regions of the world to mobilize existing resources and to pressure governments and international bodies to scale up HIV/AIDS funding and human rights protections for MSM.

"The impact of HIV/AIDS on MSM continues to be overlooked or simply ignored by most governments and funders around the world, resulting in poor to non-existent prevention and care. There is an urgent need for international action," says Shivananda Khan, a member of the Global Forum steering committee and the executive director of Naz Foundation International.

While a lack of funding and political will has limited the number of studies on MSM and HIV/AIDS in many regions of the world, a recent report published by TREAT Asia, an initiative of the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), indicates that HIV prevalence rates among MSM exceed 25% in some parts of Asia . Studies from Latin America and the Caribbean , meanwhile, suggest that prevalence rates in that region vary from approximately 10 - 20%.

"Seroprevalence estimates among MSM around the world remain among the highest of any group. The international community's commitment to universal access will mean nothing unless immediate and ambitious action is taken to close the funding and services gap for men who have sex with men," said Richard Burzynski, a member of the steering committee and executive director of the International Council of AIDS Service Organisations (ICASO).

"But closing the funding and services gap will only solve part of the problem. Human rights violations against gay and other MSM - including arbitrary arrests, serious physical violence and even murder - increase their vulnerability to HIV and fuel new infections among them. Human rights abuses also follow infection, exacerbating the impact of HIV/AIDS," Burzynski added. "International action is badly needed to improve human rights protections from MSM and the Global Forum will be lobbying for exactly that."

Coverage of Selected Services for HIV/AIDS Prevention, Care, and Support in Low and Middle Income Countries in 2003. USAID, UNAIDS, WHO, UNICEF, and the POLICY Project. June 2004
GCPH Report, 2004.

Click here for the Global Forum on MSM and HIV concept note:

The Global Forum brings together, for the first time, gay and MSM groups in both the industrialized and developing world to work together.

The Secretariat is currently housed within the AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA), The David Geffen Centre, 611 S. Kingsley Drive , 4 th Floor, Los Angeles , California 90005 , USA .

Website: www.msmandhiv.org