Abstract

Up until recently the HIV pandemic in Africa has been viewed as one overwhelmingly defined by heterosexual transmission. Left relatively unacknowledged has been the fact that at the same time as heterosexual transmission Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) have continued to be infected with the virus and continued to infect each other. Simultaneously recent developments in HIV prevention strategies have attempted to move beyond ‘individualistic’ programmes focused primarily on information dissemination and condom provision towards more ‘structural’ approaches that take into account social circumstances that can hinder individual ability to practice safer-sex. This talk will discuss the first attempt at a structural HIV prevention initiative aimed at MSM in Africa – The Ukwazana (‘brining people together’) programme. It will summaries the innovative strategies designed through a collaborative effort between the University of Cambridge Centre for Gender Studies and the South African Anova Health Institute to have a lasting impact on HIV prevalence and incidence among MSM in the townships of Cape Town. It will also explore some of the barriers that needed to be overcome in developing such a programme, including township homophobia and an historical lack of appreciation among diverse actors as to the seriousness of MSM HIV infection in the region.