Towards a male-centered model of care: understanding male preferences and barriers to HIV care in Khayelitsha, South Africa.

Disproportionately more women than men have accessed antiretroviral therapy (ART) in sub-Saharan Africa. In Khayelitsha, patients on ART are 68% female. Men are admitted to programmes with more advanced HIV disease and experience greater on-treatment mortality. Since 2007, a male-only clinic in Khayelitsha has successfully recruited large numbers of men for HIV/STI screening; the clinic does not perform CD4 counts or provide ART services. We investigated factors which might improve linkages to and retention in care for HIV-positive males.