1. Perceived Access to HIV Prevention Services Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) and MSM Sex Workers in France, Russia, and Türkiye.
- Author
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Jackson, Kristopher J., Sullivan, Tadhg, Howell, Sean, Garner, Alex, and Santos, Glenn-Milo
- Subjects
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COVID-19 pandemic , *MEN who have sex with men , *SEXUAL orientation , *WORK orientations , *SEX workers - Abstract
This study examined the association between self-identification as a sex worker (SW) and perceived access to pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic HIV prevention methods among MSM in France, Russia, and Türkiye amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Globally, 17,250 MSM recruited through a geosocial networking smartphone application completed the COVID-19 disparities survey, which was administered between October and November 2020. Approximately 38% of survey respondents were identified as living in France (n = 1269), Russia (n = 3882), and Türkiye (n = 3141) at the time of survey completion. Given the diverse sociodemographic factors and attitudes toward both MSM behavior and commercial sex work in these countries, we conducted a secondary analysis of survey data exploring the relationship between SW status and perceived access to pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic HIV prevention methods during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among respondents in Russia and France, MSM SW status was associated with a reduction in perceived access to condoms/lubricants (
p = .001 in Russia,p < .001 in France). MSM SW in France were less likely to report never using PrEP as compared to non-SW peers (RR = 0.40,p = .005). Our findings highlight the disparities in access to HIV prevention for MSM SW living in these three countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on our findings, COVID-19 may have exacerbated pre-existing inequities in HIV prevention among populations experiencing intersecting stigmas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2024
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