Supporting men who have sex with men in Lebanon
01 November 2007
The Alliance and the National AIDS Programme of Lebanon have been working with the organisations SIDC and Helem to address the medical and psychological needs of men who have sex with men in Lebanon. They have initiated a pilot project of a referral system among 15 NGOs and medical and social services in Beirut, which includes legal, health-care and social services, psychological support for men who have sex with men and free HIV counselling and testing.
Key populations in North Africa and the Middle East – such as men who have sex with men – have limited access to HIV information and services, which increases their vulnerability to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
A number of studies in Lebanon highlighted the need to create a referral system for men who have sex with men that would link prevention and treatment services for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, as well as psychological and legal support services. To encourage men who have sex with men to use services there was also a need to:
- offer appropriate information about sexual identity, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections
- promote services for testing and treatment of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections
- advocate for an advice service.
The Alliance has been working with SIDC and its partners Helem to meet these needs by taking the following steps:
- identifying and contacting organisations
- organising meetings with the public and political and religious authorities, to educate them about the importance of prevention activities, and to encourage support
- developing protocols for implementing the referral system with service providers, and training service providers
- developing and strengthen partnerships to promote services
- developing related materials, such as referral guides and prevention information.
Find out more about the process and lessons learned with this extended case study:
Creating a referral system for men who have sex with men in Lebanon
