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 While consensual sexual relationships between men were already
illegal in Nigeria, the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act, signed
into law in January 2014, prohibited participation in organizations
supporting gay people or attempts at any kind of civil same-sex
relationship.
There were reports of arrests and torture following the enactment of
the law, according to a paper in The Lancet HIV by Sheree Schwartz
of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore
and colleagues.
Since the law took effect, men who have sex with men may fear that
the benefits of medical care don't outweigh the risks, Schwartz
said.
The study, she said, suggests "that they think the (benefit) of HIV
prevention care isn't worth remaining in a system that could
potentially out them," she said.
Schwartz and her colleagues analyzed data from 707 gay and bisexual
men in Nigeria who were receiving HIV prevention and treatment
services from a community-based clinic in 2013 and 2014. The men
made 756 visits to the clinic before the law passed and 420 after it
was enacted.
Overall, 38 percent said they'd been afraid to seek healthcare after
the law was enacted, compared to about 25 percent before the law was
passed.
And 28 percent said they'd avoided seeking healthcare after the law
was enacted, compared to about 20 percent before the law.
The number of men who came to the clinic but did not return for a
future visit was high - especially among those who were not infected
by HIV, the researchers found. This rate did not increase after the
law, however.
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It seems "people remain engaged in care if we successfully engage in
treatment," Schwartz said.
"One of the important points people can take away from this is that
a supportive policy environment is really important to support HIV
prevention and treatment programs," she added.
Schwartz said there is a large HIV epidemic among the population
that needs to be addressed.
"Definitely there are a lot of same-sex behavior acts that are
illegal, but what is not illegal and remains part of the agenda is
that everyone has a right to healthcare," Schwartz told Reuters
Health.
As scientists, she said, her team does not want to get involved with
politics.
"I think we’re going to sort of keep our eyes on what’s going on in
the population," she said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1HzFexY http://bit.ly/1HzFfSo The Lancet HIV,
online June 1, 2015.
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