APCOM in partnership with PEPFAR/USAID/EpiC held a webinar on Chemsex

Asia Pacific Chemsex Webinar: Opportunities for Integrating Sexualized Drug Users into HIV Program

Sexualized Drug Use (SDU) is not a new phenomenon and in Asia is receiving attention as the practice is further documented and explored, with SDU prevalence among MSM and transgender women ranging between 3.6% to 91.2% in the region[1]. Diverse social and sexual motivations for SDU are reported a review ‘A qualitative scoping review of sexualised drug use (including Chemsex) of men who have sex with men and transgender women in Asia’, ranging from describing SDU as a social and sexual lubricant that increased pleasure, to beauty, status and freedom to participate in sexual fantasies. In different contexts, SDU is used to build individual and community identities and establish relationships or as a coping mechanism for those who had experienced stigma, rejection, and/or who described feelings of lost social and sexual worth. Common themes reported across SDU settings in this review include privacy, anonymity and secrecy, findings hardly surprising in an environment where penalties for supplying or using controlled substances may include enforced treatment, incarceration, or death, and where individuals who engage in sexualized drug use may further face exclusion from their peers and families due to the stigmatization and criminalization of same-sex relationships.

However, despite challenges, there are concerted efforts to reach members of key populations engaging in sexualized drug use and to provide HIV and harm reduction services as effectively engaging these high-risk individuals in the cascade of prevention, testing, and treatment services is critical to reaching HIV epidemic control.

Objectives:

1. To build a common understanding of chemsex among key population communities and other stakeholders in the Asia-Pacific and Central Asia regions;
2. To identify gaps and support needed related to chemsex issues at the country level, along with solutions to be implemented;
3. To launch the Chemsex and the HIV Cascade guidelines in response to those needs;
4. To advocate with government and other stakeholders on the chemsex issue, with the goal of influencing policy change and decision-making processes at the higher level.

Time	Item	Speaker
5 mins	Welcome & Introductions: –          Housekeeping –          Overview of the session – Introduction of speakers	Midnight Executive Director  APCOM
5 mins	Demonstrating how to use Jamboard and posing questions to the participants	Kasintorn Honglawan Digital Monitoring Officer APCOM
5 mins	Opening Remarks	Dr. Pimpanitta Saenyakul  HIV Deputy Team Leader USAID
10 mins	Setting the scene	Desire Rwodzi UNAIDS   Angela Kelly-Hanku Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research and the Kirby Institute, UNSW
5 mins	Key findings from chemsex research across Asia	Video clips from: Indonesia  Philippines  Vietnam
15 mins	Discussion on the up-coming Chemsex and HIV Cascade: A Guide for Program Planners in Key Population-led HIV/Sexual Health Programs in Southeast Asia, in collaboration with PEPFAR/USAID/Epic and APCOM.   Framing of the Cascade   Guidelines presentation	Steve Mills Regional Director, EpiC Thailand, Burma, Laos FHI 360    Eddy Chamberlain Lead consultant
5 mins	Q&A	Midnight Executive Director  APCOM
5 mins	Jamboard recap	Nicky Suwandi Communications and Demand Generation Officer APCOM
20 mins	Midnight to moderate   NOTE: Talk show format   Representations from: Indonesia (Wawa) Kyrgyzstan (Adilet) Malaysia (Martin) Philippines (Rod) Thailand (Arm, Krubb) Vietnam (Tien, Pluto)	Midnight Executive Director  APCOM    Representations from: Indonesia Kyrgyzstan  Malaysia Philippines  Thailand Vietnam
5 mins	Reflections on chemsex response in the region	Karen Peters Regional Drugs and Health Programme Officer, UNODC
5 mins	Thank you to the speakers and Close	Midnight Executive Director  APCOM

Speakers Presentation

---

Link to Resources

A qualitative scoping review of sexualised drug use (including Chemsex) of men who have sex with men and transgender women in Asia

Chemsex in Asia: A Community Manual on Sexualised Substance Use among MSM

Situation analysis of substance use among LGBT communities in Thailand 

Briefing note: Chemsex and Harm Reduction for Gay Men and other Men who have Sex with Men

Technical Guide: HIV prevention, treatment, care and support for people who use stimulant drugs

UNODC Research Presentation, ‘Chemsex’ in the Philippines: A baseline assessment of sexualized drug use, HUV, and other STIs among Filipino Cisgender men who have sex with Men.

https://www.issup.net/national-chapters/issup-philippines/events/calendar/2020-11/webinar-fusion-substance-use-and-sex

Link to other resources APCOM has done on Chemsex 

Platforms APCOM has been on to talk about Chemsex

---

[1] For example, the prevalence of SDU by MSM in mainland China ranges between 3.6% to 22.8%, increasing to 91.2% when reporting on popper use. In Hong Kong, SDU prevalence among MSM ranges between 3.7% to 14%; in Malaysia 14% to 23.9%; in Taiwan 7.5% to 60.7% (58); in Thailand 4% to 37% and in Vietnam 14% to 20.1%. Studies also report on the prevalence of SDU in transgender women in Cambodia (6%), Thailand (52.7%), and transgender women using poppers in China (85.4%). As well as populations of sex workers, including MSM in mainland China (33.6%), Thailand (62.2%) and Vietnam (6%) and transgender women in China (20.9%) and Malaysia (33.2%)

https://www.apcom.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Report_SDU-in-Asia_20210202_v6.pdf