International Journal of Health Policy and Management

International Journal of Health Policy and Management

The Elephants in the Room: Sex, HIV, and LGBT Populations in MENA. Intersectionality in Lebanon; Comment on “Improving the Quality and Quantity of HIV Data in the Middle East and North Africa: Key Challenges and Ways Forward”

Document Type : Commentary

Authors
Rachel L. Kaplan 1
Cynthia El Khoury 2
1 University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
2 Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality, Beirut, Lebanon
10.15171/ijhpm.2016.149
Abstract
In response to this insightful editorial, we wish to provide commentary that seeks to highlight recent successes and illuminate the often unspoken hurdles at the intersections of culture, politics, and taboo. We focus on sexual transmission and draw examples from Lebanon, where the pursuit of data in quality and quantity is teaching us lessons about the way forward and where we are experiencing many of the challenges referenced in the editorial such as discrepancies between national statistics and rates derived via research as well as the impact of protracted political conflict and displacement. Two important points were raised in the editorial about HIV in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) that we would like to expand further: (1) The epidemic is largely driven by drug-related and sexual behavior among key populations; and (2) Several key populations continue to be criminalized and excluded from surveillance programs.
Keywords
HIV
Data
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
LGBT
Political Context
Subjects

  1.  

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International Journal of Health Policy and Management
Volume 6, Issue 8
2017
Pages 477-479

  • Received Date 28 October 2016
  • Revised Date 23 November 2016
  • Accepted Date 23 November 2016
  • First Published Date 01 August 2017
  • Published Date 01 August 2017