Engaging men in HIV services in sub Saharan Africa: an authors´ viewpoint on what has been done and what still needs to be done?

Abstract

There has been an increased recognition of the importance of men in the global HIV response. Previous studies indicate that in different settings, men are generally less engaged in various HIV services besides having worse health outcomes in comparison to the women. Some of the main factors behind this, based on the previous studies include social factors, gender factors, economic factors, political factors, as well as institutional factors. Recently, various scholars have been reporting evidence concerning the strategies, which aims to improve the levels of engagement of men when it comes to HIV services. There are a number of highly promising approaches, which have been suggested, which includes community-based outreach programs, gender-transformative interventions aimed at shifting gender practices and norms, as well as the development of highly responsive and male-friendly health services. Despite the fact that a number of initiatives have been put in place, there are different kind of challenges, which still remain, more so with regards to costs, as well as sustainability, intersecting inequalities such as class and race, and the challenges, which are faced with regards to altering the community-level gender norms.