New information and communication technologies are changing the way in which gay men and other men who have sex with men meet their sexual partners. Today, men who have sex with men, including those who are not openly gay or who fear stigma, are able to arrange to meet other men, look for entertainment, find health information and mobilize through dating applications, the Internet and other digital media.
Such technologies also represent an important resource for extending the reach and enhancing the effectiveness of HIV prevention programmes among gay men and other men who have sex with men. They hold the potential to drive measurable programmatic improvements by collecting and disseminating information, linking virtual content to physical services and complementing offline components of HIV programmes.
In order to improve the reach of HIV services and the impact of HIV prevention programmes, UNAIDS, in collaboration with the Global Forum on MSM & HIV, the USAID funded LINKAGES programme and Health Policy Project, organized a consultation to develop a framework to engage the private and public sectors and communities in using new media technologies for HIV prevention among gay men and other men who have sex with men.
Participants
The participants included experts in the area of new media and HIV among gay men and other men who have sex with men, including some of the largest private companies that own dating platforms, programme implementers, researchers and advocates.
Key messages
- A number of large, for-profit, gay dating applications and Internet companies with a very large number of clients already support initiatives to foster the health and well-being of their clients. They have the potential to reach people at higher risk of HIV infection with information and refer them to HIV service providers.
- Public–private partnerships on new media technologies for the health of gay men and other men who have sex with men need to be strengthened. A better understanding of the strengths and limitations of the private and public sectors as well as community organizations and networks is required.
- Innovative projects are increasingly using new information technologies to strengthen the HIV response among gay men and other men who have sex with men across the project cycle, from planning to implementation to monitoring and evaluation. These need to be evaluated and scaled-up.
- National AIDS programmes need to increasingly include the use of new information and communication technologies in their strategies and policies, build their own information and communications technology capacity and fund such programmes.
- Data safety issues need to be addressed.
- The use of new media should be included in core HIV packages and programmes; international guidance should be developed regarding minimum standards, training requirements or measures of success.
“It's encouraging to see the United Nations reach out to emerging technologies to discover ways that our platform may help stop the spread of AIDS in the world.”
Steve Levin, Head of Sales, Grindr
“It’s a rare opportunity to have the private sector, implementers and community all in the same room—there has been loud and clear message from this meeting that we do have the same goals, we do have the same concerns and we do share common ground from which it is possible to move forward together.”
Matt Avery, Strategic Behavioural Communications Officer, Linkages Project, Asia Pacific
“The evidence that information and communications technology have significant reach and offer considerable potential for public health and HIV prevention, especially in the field of mobile apps, is extremely encouraging.”
Jack Mackenroth, Senior Communications Officer, Global Forum on MSM & HIV
“I was thrilled to be part of this important consultation on building effective public–private partnerships to address sexual health issues of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men. We look forward to working more closely with the United Nations to find meaningful solutions in reducing HIV/sexually transmitted infections across the globe.”
David Novak, Managing Director, Online-Buddies Research Institute
“Undeniably, gay social networking applications can be a great tool. Blued, as a gay dating application with social responsibility, is keen to make our platform available for HIV interventions. We just need to learn how to work more effectively and innovatively.”
Geng Le, Chief Executive Director, Danlan, China
