Reducing HIV Disparities Among Gay, Bisexual, and Other MSM and Transgender Women in Guatemala: A Blueprint for Action

Guatemalan gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) and transgender women experience profound HIV disparities, with prevalence rates far exceeding those of the general population. Limited access to and suboptimal use of HIV prevention and treatment services hinder progress towards the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS goal to end the epidemic by 2030. Our binational community-based participatory research partnership developed a blueprint of twelve recommendations to reduce HIV disparities in Guatemala. Recommendations include enhancing HIV surveillance, increasing research, combatting stigma, bolstering provider training, addressing social determinants of health, improving sexual health literacy and mental health services, and partnering with LGBTQ+ communities. The blueprint aims to advance HIV prevention and treatment among populations most affected by the epidemic in Guatemala and may serve as a model for other countries to respond to the urgent need for approaches to end the HIV epidemic globally.