TY - JOUR
T1 - HIV prevalence and incidence among men who have sex with men and transgender women in Bangkok, 2014-2018
T2 - Outcomes of a consensus development initiative
AU - van Griensven, Frits
AU - Phanuphak, Nittaya
AU - Manopaiboon, Chomnad
AU - Dunne, Eileen F.
AU - Colby, Donn J.
AU - Chaiphosri, Pannee
AU - Ramautarsing, Reshmie
AU - Mock, Philip A.
AU - Guadamuz, Thomas E.
AU - Rangsin, Ram
AU - Benjamaneepairoj, Kanya
AU - Nakorn, Panus Na
AU - Vannakit, Ravipa
AU - de Lind van Wijngaarden, Jan Willem
AU - Avery, Matthew
AU - Mills, Stephen
N1 - Funding Information:
The work was supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the LINKAGES project, managed by FHI 360. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of Unites States Government. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.
PY - 2022/1/1
Y1 - 2022/1/1
N2 - To reach its goal of ending AIDS by 2030, Thailand has adopted antiretroviral treatment as prevention and HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis for men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women (TGW) as its core HIV control strategy. However, in the absence of reliable epidemiologic indicators, the impact of these policies on the course of the HIV epidemic in these groups remains unknown. To help answer this question, we formulated an HIV epidemic consensus initiative for Bangkok, Thailand, to analyze epidemiologic and program data and reach agreement between experts and stakeholders on the evolving state of the HIV epidemic among MSM and TGW. A customized Delphi process was used to consult and consolidate viewpoints of experts and stakeholders. Experts presented and discussed HIV prevalence and incidence data from recent and ongoing studies among MSM and TGW in Bangkok (2014 to 2018) during a meeting with stakeholders representing government, donors, and civil society. Agreement about the course of the HIV epidemic among MSM and TGW was attained by voting consensus. Based on presented data, meeting participants agreed that HIV prevalence and incidence had decreased among Bangkok MSM from 2014 to 2018. Despite these declines, HIV prevalence and incidence were found to remain high. This was particularly the case among younger MSM. Participants agreed that there was no evidence for a decrease in HIV prevalence and incidence among Bangkok TGW. Introduction of antiretroviral treatment as prevention and HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis may have contributed to these declines. However, HIV prevalence and incidence remained high, and no signs of a decrease were reported among Bangkok TGW. At the current rate of new HIV infections in MSM and TGW, Thailand will not reach its goal of ending AIDS by 2030. This HIV consensus initiative may serve as a model for building agreement and advocacy on epidemiologic and program data and their implications for a large metropolitan city.
AB - To reach its goal of ending AIDS by 2030, Thailand has adopted antiretroviral treatment as prevention and HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis for men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women (TGW) as its core HIV control strategy. However, in the absence of reliable epidemiologic indicators, the impact of these policies on the course of the HIV epidemic in these groups remains unknown. To help answer this question, we formulated an HIV epidemic consensus initiative for Bangkok, Thailand, to analyze epidemiologic and program data and reach agreement between experts and stakeholders on the evolving state of the HIV epidemic among MSM and TGW. A customized Delphi process was used to consult and consolidate viewpoints of experts and stakeholders. Experts presented and discussed HIV prevalence and incidence data from recent and ongoing studies among MSM and TGW in Bangkok (2014 to 2018) during a meeting with stakeholders representing government, donors, and civil society. Agreement about the course of the HIV epidemic among MSM and TGW was attained by voting consensus. Based on presented data, meeting participants agreed that HIV prevalence and incidence had decreased among Bangkok MSM from 2014 to 2018. Despite these declines, HIV prevalence and incidence were found to remain high. This was particularly the case among younger MSM. Participants agreed that there was no evidence for a decrease in HIV prevalence and incidence among Bangkok TGW. Introduction of antiretroviral treatment as prevention and HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis may have contributed to these declines. However, HIV prevalence and incidence remained high, and no signs of a decrease were reported among Bangkok TGW. At the current rate of new HIV infections in MSM and TGW, Thailand will not reach its goal of ending AIDS by 2030. This HIV consensus initiative may serve as a model for building agreement and advocacy on epidemiologic and program data and their implications for a large metropolitan city.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85123368099
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0262694
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0262694
M3 - Article
C2 - 35061803
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 17
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 1 January
M1 - e0262694
ER -
SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
SDG 5 Gender Equality