The stigma, discrimination and criminalisation that men who have sex with men experience affects them in many ways, and some of these things increase their HIV risk. 

In some places, it means they are less able to get a job or a place to live. Some men who have sex with men turn to sex work to survive, and this increases their HIV risk further.

Stigma is linked to mental health issues like depression and anxiety among men who have sex with men. Having a mental health issue can lead people to take sexual health risks like having condomless sex. 

Sexual violence is another issue. Due to stigma, if a man who has sex with men is raped he is unlikely to go to a health service to get PEP (a pill that can prevent HIV in emergency, post-sex situations) or test for HIV. He is also unlikely to report it to the police, which means such rapes will continue.

Some HIV programmes do not collect data on men who have sex with men. This makes it hard to plan and provide services that suit their needs. Collecting data to prove that a community of men who have sex with men exist in a certain location can be an important first step in advocating for services. Collecting data to show what services men who have sex with men need, and measuring the impact of any services that are introduced on HIV infections or treatment uptake, can be a good way to get further investment.

Collecting data on human rights abuses that men who have sex with men experience, such as mistreatment from healthcare workers or the police, can be used to prove to decision-makers that these violations are happening and the effects they have. 

If you are a community health worker it is important to look at the evidence. And the evidence shows that the HIV response will not succeed unless all people at risk of HIV are included. This means, regardless of your personal views, it is essential to support men who have sex with men to access HIV prevention, testing and treatment services. And it is important to treat men who have sex with men with dignity and respect, otherwise they will shy away from these services.

If more men who have sex with men can access HIV services, fewer will get HIV. Because some men who have sex with men also have sex with women, this means fewer women will be at risk of HIV. In turn, other men that women have sex with will be less likely to get HIV, and so will their unborn children. But until everyone is able to access the HIV services they need, everyone will remain at risk.