Improving HIV health outcomes for Black men who have sex with men

The results of a multi-year initiative aimed at improving HIV health outcomes for Black men who have sex with men (MSM) are published in a new Supplement in the journal AIDS Patient Care and STDs.

Black MSM have higher rates of HIV infection than their White counterparts and face a number of comorbidities and challenges that impact their ability to engage or remain in care.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program's (RWHAP) Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) Program launched a multiyear initiative called "Implementation of Evidence-Informed Behavioral Health Models to Improve HIV Health Outcomes for Black Men Who Have Sex with Men." The goal of this initiative was to adapt and implement evidence-based approaches for linking, engaging, and re-engaging, and retaining Black MSM with HIV in medical care and supportive services.

The supplement in AIDS Patient Care and STDs, titled "Evaluation, Findings, and Lessons Learned from the RWHAP SPNS Black MSM Initiative," presents the findings from the four-year project. It includes commentary from frontline staff who highlight their direct observations on the implementation of the intervention models, with lessons learned that can be applied in future studies. The supplement articles demonstrate that the evaluations found improvements in several key outcomes, including retention in care, receipt of HIV prescriptions, and viral suppression.