Info Center – Health4Men Resources

The Constitution of South Africa protects the rights of people living with HIV. It doesn’t allow discrimination and protects people’s right to privacy and confidentiality. In South Africa, there aren’t any laws that force people to tell others about the HIV status. People who do test positive should tell their partner, so that they can be protected and also have an HIV test. People with HIV/AIDS in South Africa are protected by the Bill of Rights and have the same rights which protect all citizens.

Whether or not to disclose your HIV-positive status is a difficult decision to make because disclosure (or non-disclosure) is often followed by major and life-changing consequences.
Have a look at the guidelines in this article that may help if you are considering disclosing.

Men who have sex with men (MSM) are at high risk for HIV acquisition and transmission owing to the high risks associated with unprotected anal sex and barriers to accessing appropriate health services.

Various studies have proven the value of early initiation of antiretroviral treatment (ART) for both prevention and treatment.

This article illustrates the need for the immediate implementation of early ART among high risk populations such as men who have sex with men (MSM) where current safe sex interventions have proved limited or at worst ineffective.

The World Health Organisation has recently released a report on basic health care for MSM and transgender people entitled “Prevention and Treatment of HIV and Other Sexually Transmitted Infections among Men Who Have Sex with Men and Transgender People: Recommendations for a Public Health Approach.

This informative booklet features everything you need to know about HIV transmission, screening and ARVs.

This booklet aims to inform MSM on various methods of HIV prevention.

It not only includes information on condoms and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) but also aims to educate men around the behvaiors which might put them at increased risk of contracting HIV and STIs.

This helpful little booklet has quick and easy to understand information on various STIs like herpes, syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia, hepatitis and warts.

Read about how they are transmitted, what the symptoms are and how they can be treated.

Read about the different types of drugs and what risks drugs pose in terms of unsafe sex, needle sharing and interactions with antiretroviral treatment. The booklet also contains advice on how to avoid the risks associated with drugs and substance abuse.

Until recently, African MSM have been under-researched and under-resourced, and this has contributed to their stigmatisation.

Fortunately this deficiency has been recognised locally and a number of innovative programmes have been developed to address this.

The Top2btm symposium on prevention, treatment and care of MSM sought to bring together these programmes to share experiences.