Abstract: In India, men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women (TGW) face an elevated risk of acquiring HIV and viral hepatitis, both of which have common modes of transmission such as condomless sex or needle sharing. While HIV risk is being addressed by targeted HIV interventions (TIs) of National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), available data indicate that access to and uptake of hepatitis-related services are limited for MSM and TGW. We aimed to explore community perspectives and experiences to develop strategies to integrate viral hepatitis awareness and referrals for screening and treatment within TIs.
The findings demonstrate the need to raise community awareness on viral hepatitis. The findings support integration of viral hepatitis prevention programs into the existing HIV-related targeted interventions as a strategic way to positively influence access to and uptake of viral hepatitis prevention and treatment services among MSM and TGW communities. Lessons learned through such strategic interventions can inform current global discussions on reducing viral hepatitis burden among key populations.
About the speaker: Dr. Aleena Sebastian is Assistant Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bengaluru. A social anthropologist by training, her areas of work expand to gender and sexuality, urban studies and community-driven health research. She is the recipient of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI)-Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Young Investigator Award 2021 for her investigator-initiated research, the Dr. V. G. Nair Memorial Award 2023 from the Indian Association for the Study of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (IASSTD) for the best scientific presentation on the willingness to use the Mpox vaccine among MSM and transgender women, and the Prof. M. N. Srinivas Memorial Prize 2023 by the Indian Sociological Society. She currently pursues a research project funded by the Gilead Sciences, USA as part of its Global Public Health Research Scholars Programme.