Access to HIV Services at Non-Governmental and Community-Based Organizations among Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) in Cameroon: An Integrated Biological and Behavioral Surveillance Analysis

<div><p>Background</p><p>Men who have sex with men (MSM) are more likely to be living with HIV than other adult men in low- and middle-income countries. MSM experience barriers to accessing HIV services including a lack of available specialized care, and community-level stigma and discrimination. This study aims to examine the uptake of HIV services at non-governmental and community-based organizations (NGOs/CBOs) to identify ways to improve coverage of HIV prevention and treatment among MSM.</p><p>Methods</p><p>An Integrated Biological and Behavioral Surveillance (IBBS) survey was conducted in Yaoundé and Douala, Cameroon in 2011 using the respondent driven sampling (RDS) method to recruit and interview 239 MSM in Yaoundé and 272 MSM in Douala.</p><p>Results</p><p>MSM in Yaoundé were statistically significantly more likely to have accessed NGO/CBO services or been reached by an outreach worker in the past 12 months if they had any STI symptoms (aOR 2.17 CI 1.02-4.59. p=0.04), or if they had a larger MSM social network (aOR 1.02 CI 1.01-1.04. p<0.01). MSM in Douala were more likely to have accessed NGO/CBO services or been reached by an outreach worker in the past 12 months if they were living with HIV (aOR 3.60 CI 1.35-9.60. p=0.01), or if they reported higher numbers of male sexual partners (aOR 1.17 CI 1.00-1.36. p=0.046). Compared to men in Douala, MSM in Yaoundé were significantly less likely to have accessed NGO/CBO services or been reached by an outreach worker in the past 12 months (aOR 0.22 CI 0 .14-0.34. p=<0.01).</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>With appropriate funding and resources, community-based organizations that provide care specifically for MSM can improve access to HIV prevention, treatment, and care services. Additionally, using social networks to reach MSM can connect greater numbers of the population to effective HIV interventions, which will improve health outcomes and decrease onward transmission of HIV.</p></div

Characteristics of MSM recruited from Douala (N = 272) and Yaoundé (N = 239), 2011.

<p>Data on factors associated with HIV infection and prior HIV testing are available in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0122881#pone.0122881.s001" target="_blank">S1</a> and <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0122881#pone.0122881.s002" target="_blank">S2</a> Files.</p><p>Characteristics of MSM recruited from Douala (N = 272) and Yaoundé (N = 239), 2011.</p

Bivariate and multivariate models of the correlates of access to NGO/CBO services and outreach among MSM in Yaoundé (N = 239), 2011.

<p>Abbreviations: RDS, respondent driven sampling; OR, odds ratio; aOR, adjusted odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.</p><p>Adjusted odds ratio model includes all variables listed in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0122881#pone.0122881.t002" target="_blank">Table 2</a> except history of HIV testing.</p><p>*Overall Wald test p-value for categorical variables calculated using testparm.</p><p>Bivariate and multivariate models of the correlates of access to NGO/CBO services and outreach among MSM in Yaoundé (N = 239), 2011.</p

Bivariate and multivariate models of the correlates of access to NGO/CBO services and outreach among MSM in Douala (N = 272), 2011.

<p>Abbreviations: RDS, respondent driven sampling; OR, odds ratio; aOR, adjusted odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.</p><p>Adjusted odds ratio model includes all variables listed in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0122881#pone.0122881.t003" target="_blank">Table 3</a> except history of HIV testing.</p><p>*Overall Wald test p-value for categorical variables calculated using testparm.</p><p>Bivariate and multivariate models of the correlates of access to NGO/CBO services and outreach among MSM in Douala (N = 272), 2011.</p

HIV prevalence and factors associated with HIV infection among men who have sex with men in Cameroon

Introduction: Despite men who have sex with men (MSM) being a key population for HIV programming globally, HIV epidemiologic data on MSM in Central Africa are sparse. We measured HIV and syphilis prevalence and the factors associated with HIV infection among MSM in Cameroon. Methods: Two hundred and seventy-two and 239 MSM aged &#x2265;18 from Douala and Yaound&#x00E9;, respectively, were recruited using respondent-driven sampling (RDS) for this cross-sectional surveillance study in 2011. Participants completed a structured questionnaire and HIV and syphilis testing. Statistical analyses, including RDS-weighted proportions, bootstrapped confidence intervals and logistic regressions, were used. Results: Crude and RDS-weighted HIV prevalence were 28.6% (73/255) and 25.5% (95% CI 19.1&#x2013;31.9) in Douala, and 47.3% (98/207) and 44.4% (95% CI 35.7&#x2013;53.2) in Yaound&#x00E9;. Active syphilis prevalence in total was 0.4% (2/511). Overall, median age was 24 years, 62% (317/511) of MSM identified as bisexual and 28.6% (144/511) identified as gay. Inconsistent condom use with regular male partners (64.1%; 273/426) and casual male and female partners (48.5%; 195/402) was common, as was the inconsistent use of condom-compatible lubricants (CCLs) (26.3%; 124/472). In Douala, preferring a receptive sexual role was associated with prevalent HIV infection [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.33, 95% CI 1.02&#x2013;5.32]. Compared to MSM without HIV infection, MSM living with HIV were more likely to have ever accessed a health service targeting MSM in Douala (aOR 4.88, 95% CI 1.63&#x2013;14.63). In Yaound&#x00E9;, MSM living with HIV were more likely to use CCLs (aOR 2.44, 95% CI 1.19&#x2013;4.97). Conclusions: High HIV prevalence were observed and condoms and CCLs were used inconsistently indicating that MSM are a priority population for HIV prevention, treatment and care services in Douala and Yaound&#x00E9;. Building the capacity of MSM community organizations and improving the delivery and scale-up of multimodal interventions for MSM that are sensitive to concerns about confidentiality and the complex individual, social, community-level and policy challenges are needed to successfully engage young MSM in the continuum of HIV care. In addition to scaling up condom and CCL access, evaluating the feasibility of novel biomedical interventions, including antiretroviral pre-exposure prophylaxis and early antiretroviral therapy for MSM living with HIV in Cameroon, is also warranted