Editorial

The edition has been timed for release alongside the 11th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP11), which will provide an important forum to debate, discuss and decide how to scale-up prevention, testing, treatment and care for men who have sex with men and transgender people in the lead up to 2015 and address the gaps remaining to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Three Zeros and the targets of the UN 2011 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS: Intensifying Our Efforts to Eliminate HIV and AIDS.

Across our region, we see rapidly escalating epidemics in MSM and transgender people in many countries and cities, while it is also clear that the level of funding currently reaching communities, and MSM and transgender communities in particular, is woefully inadequate to tackle HIV.

With recent advances in technology and the lessons learned from years of programming with MSM and transgender communities, it is clear that addressing HIV among MSM and transgender people is achievable with the right combination of political will, investment and community mobilisation.

We would like to thank all the guest writers for sharing their thoughts and perspectives with us in this special edition from the fields of community advocacy, programming, and research. We hope the reader finds it a useful addition to the discussions that will take place at ICAAP11.

We hope ICAAP11 offers a significant step towards achieving the response that MSM and transgender people urgently need.

Enjoy your time in Bangkok, and we look forward to meeting many of you during the Congress.

Chris Connelly and Midnight Poonkasetwattana

Chris Connelly is the manager of the AFAO International Program, based in Bangkok. He has experience supporting community-based responses to HIV across Asia and the Pacific.

Midnight Poonkasetwattana is the Executive Director of APCOM (Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health), and was previously the Coordinator for Purple Sky Network.