Behavioural Surveillance Surveys - The Wisdom of Whores

Indicators for men
who have sex with men
Men Who Have Sex With Men
Indicator 1
Knowledge of HIV prevention
Definition
Denominator : Number of respondents who
correctly identify avoiding
anal sex and using condoms
during anal sex as means
of reducing the risk of HIV
infection, in response to
prompted questions.
Numerator :
Measurement tools
Men who have sex
with men questionnaire
Total number of respondents
surveyed.
Q903A, Q903B
What it measures
In HIV epidemics where there is a
concentration of HIV infection or risk behaviors
among men who have sex with other men,
IEC campaigns are often designed to meet
the specific needs of this population. Most of
these campaigns promote non-penetrative
sex and condom use during anal sex as ways
of avoiding HIV infection. This indicator
measures the extent to which those messages
have reached members of a sub-population
of men who have sex with men.
How to measure it
In a behavioral survey of men who have
sex with other men, respondents are asked
about their knowledge of AIDS, and whether
it can be prevented. They are then prompted
for various correct and incorrect means of
prevention, including non-penetrative sex and
condom use during anal sex. The indicator is
derived from correct answers given for these
two methods of preventing HIV transmission
during sex between men. Someone giving
correct answers to only one of the two is not
counted in the numerator of the indicator.
All respondents are included in the denominator,
regardless of whether they have ever heard
of AIDS or not.
Strengths and limitations
Clearly, there are many other ways of
preventing HIV transmission in male-male
sex besides those specified in the indicator.
These include abstinence, condom use during
oral sex, and mutually faithful partnerships
among men who have tested HIV-negative
and had no other partners since the test.
The extent to which these different messages
are stressed depends very much on the
context in which male-male sex takes place.
The “mutual faithfulness” message is, for
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