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Journal of Preventive Medicine
ISSN: 2572-5483
July 16-17, 2018
London, UK
Preventive Medicine 2018
Page 17
9
th
Edition of International Conference on
Preventive Medicine
& Public Health
G
lobally, the HIV epidemic among men who have sex with
men (MSM) has become out of control. In addition to being
disproportionately burdened by STI/HIV, MSM experience higher
ratesofmentalhealthproblems.HIV-positiveMSMarechallenged
by multi-morbidity and syndemics, as their prevalence of mental
health problems is 2-3 times higher than HIV-negative MSM.
Such prevalence may be aggregated by stigma, prevalent illicit
psychoactivesubstanceuseandchemsex, and lowmental health
service utilization. Mental health problems were associated with
faster progression to AIDS, shorter survival and higher risk of
secondary HIV transmission. Moreover, they would diminish
the efficacy of the WHO recommended treatment as prevention
(TasP) by affecting usage and adherence. In the past few years,
the growing evidence for the effectiveness of bio-medical HIV
interventions (e.g., pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), TasP) has
changed HIV prevention strategies substantially. Issues related
to behavioral and psychological possesses are involved in the
implementationofbio-medicalHIVinterventions.TakePrEPasan
example, previous risk behaviors, cognitive variables and mental
health status (e.g., anxiety) were determinants of its acceptance
among MSM. Potential issues, such as non-adherence to daily
dosage, risk compensation, not taking up required testing (i.e.,
HIV, STI, renal/liver function) regularly, and not seeking medical
consultation before starting/discontinuing PrEP, should be
monitored and prevented to ensure the effectiveness of PrEP
and safety of PrEP users. HIV prevention for controlling HIV
epidemics among MSM should understand the importance of
psychological factors and consequences, as well as the interplay
between biomedical and behavioral processes.
Biography
Joseph T F Lau is a Professor; Associate Director; Head of the Division of
Behavioral Health and Health Promotion; and Director of the Centre for
Health Behaviours Research in the J C School of Public Health and Prima-
ry Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is
also the Founding President of the Hong Kong Society of Behavioral Health
(HKSBH), Convenor of the AsianNetwork for Behavioral Health, and Conve-
nor for the Academic Forum of Behavioral Health. His diverse research in-
terests include those on behavioral interventions for changing risk and pre-
ventive behaviours. He has published about 400 papers in peer-reviewed
journals, and has been awarded over 60 grants as PI. He provides consul-
tancy toWHO, the Cambodian government and various CDCs in China, and
is aMember of the Governing Council and Co-Chair of the International Liai-
son Committee for the International Society of Behavioral Medicine (ISBM).
jlau@cuhk.edu.hkAgenda for controlling HIV epidemics
among men who have sex with men: Socio-
psychological, behavioral and biomedical
perspectives
Joseph T F Lau
JC School of Public Health and Primary Care – CUHK, Hong Kong
Founding President, Hong Kong Society of Behavioral Health
Joseph T F Lau, J Prev Med 2018, Volume 3
DOI: 10.21767/2572-5483-C1-001