Gay Men's Health Summit 2017 to explore HIV prevention beyond just sex

In the past, HIV prevention has focused primarily on sexual behaviour. However, strategies to addressing the epidemic are now incorporating considerations that go beyond just sex and to address other factors that can influence HIV infection..

For instance, a growing body of research has been showing that stigma against LGBT sexuality influences infection rates.

Acccordingly, new forms of prevention seek to integrate a range of approaches that address behavioural, societal, and biomedical issues, into a multifaceted "package" that can include everything from condom distribution or early treatment as prevention to stigma reduction and addressing mental-health issues.

This year, the theme of the annual Gay Men's Health Summit, held by Vancouver's Community-Based Research Centre for Gay Men's Health (CBRC), will take a look at this broader perspective with Romancing the Package: Optimizing Combination Prevention. The summit will be held on November 2 and 3 at SFU Harbour Centre.

The summit will take a look at what the benefits of combination prevention are for Canadian gay and bisexual men.

The CBRC has announced its call for submissions for the summit, and is seeking oral presentations, panels, workshops, videos, roundtables, and readings.

The deadline is June 30. For more information and submission forms, visit the CRBC website.