Expanding HIV care in Africa: making men matter

By contrast with many public health programmes, the drive to scale up combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) in the developing world has been constantly appraised for equity. Strong advocacy eff orts have brought to the attention of policy makers groups who are often overlooked in service provision, such as men who have sex with men, sex workers, prisoners, and migrants. Efforts to improve access for women have received particularly important attention in the rollout of cART. There have been calls to establish a UN agency for women as key to combating the AIDS epidemic, and international advocacy groups have called on donors to provide more funding for women’s issues and to prioritise women’s rights in the fight against HIV. Clinical research is also a gender issue, with major granting agencies specifically mandating that women be included in proposals. But with all this focus on girls and women, where do we stand with providing care to men?