Abstract
BackgroundLittle is known about the socio-behavioral risk factors for HIV acquisition among hard-to-reach men who have sex with men (MSM) population in India, particularly from the densely populated eastern part. Thus to measure the burden and correlates of HIV among MSM in West Bengal state of eastern India, a cross-sectional analysis of the national HIV Sentinel Surveillance (HSS) data was conducted.MethodsIn 2011, between July and September, involving all sentinel sites of the state, 1237 consenting MSM were anonymously interviewed and tested for HIV following national guidelines. Using a short, structured questionnaire, information was collected on socio-behavioral factors along with sexual practices and was analyzed to determine burden of HIV and the role of its socio-behavioral correlates on HIV acquisition.ResultsAmong participants, mean age was 23.4 years, 44.55% were “Kothis” (usually receptive partner) and 25.1% admitted receiving money for sex with man. HIV sero-positivity was 5.09%. Using logistic regression method, for both bivariate and multivariate (with saturated model) analyses, transport-workers [adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=8.95, 95% confidence interval (95%CI): 1.09-73.71), large business-owners/self-employed (AOR=8.46, 95%CI: 1.25-57.49), small business-owners/cultivators (AOR=7.90, 95%CI: 1.67-37.38), those who visited the sentinel site for official purposes (AOR=7.60, 95%CI: 1.21-47.83) and paying money for having sex with men (AOR=3.03, 95%CI: 1.10-8.33) were strongly associated with higher HIV sero-positivity with than their counterparts. Using the parsimonious model for multivariate analysis, Kothis (AOR=4.64, 95%CI: 1.03-20.89), paying (AOR=2.96, 95%CI: 1.15-7.58) or receiving (AOR=2.06, 95%CI: 1.06-3.99) money for having sex with a man were associated with higher risk of HIV.ConclusionsFocused intervention targeting the high risk MSM subgroups including Kothis, transport-workers, business-owners/self-employed and those who exchanged money for having sex with men, seemed to be the need of the hour for preventing the spread of HIV infection within and from this understudied population.
Highlights
India has been facing a major public health challenge with an estimated 2.09 million HIV infected population, the 3rd highest globally [1,2,3]
The funder designed the HIV sentinel surveillance and its implementation but had Little is known about the socio-behavioral risk factors for HIV acquisition among hard-toreach men who have sex with men (MSM) population in India, from the densely populated eastern part
In the era of changing dynamics of HIV epidemic, predominant mode of transmission in the country still remains heterosexual, the epidemic is being concentrated among high risk groups like MSM [2]
Summary
India has been facing a major public health challenge with an estimated 2.09 million HIV infected population, the 3rd highest globally [1,2,3]. Indian MSM are diverse group of people without a distinct homosexual identity like western countries [5,6,7] They are highly stigmatized, often targeted for social discrimination or abuse [8,9] and are mostly hidden and marginalized [5,6,7,10,11]. In West Bengal (fourth populous state of India and the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world) [13], the estimated HIV prevalence among MSM was 5.1% during 2011 against the adult HIV prevalence being 0.29% [1,2,12] This disproportionately higher (17.6 times) prevalence is a key concern and the scenario might be more problematic as the overall coverage of targeted intervention (TI) program to provide treatment, care and support to this hard-to-reach high risk group was estimated to be about 64% during 2011 [2]. To measure the burden and correlates of HIV among MSM in West Bengal state of eastern India, a cross-sectional analysis of the national HIV Sentinel Surveillance (HSS) data was conducted
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
