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Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) have been among the most affected populations by HIV since the AIDS pandemic was first identified in the 1980s. Evidence from a wide range of studies show that these men remain at the highest risk for HIV acquisition in both developed and developing countries, and that despite three decades of evidence of their vulnerability to HIV, they remain under‐served and under‐studied. Prevention strategies targeted to MSM are markedly under‐funded in most countries, leading to limited access to health services including prevention, treatment, and care. We explore the global epidemic among MSM in 2008, the limited funding available globally to respond to these epidemics, and the human rights contexts and factors which drive HIV spread and limit HIV responses for these men.What do we mean by the term MSM? MSM is a construct from the 1990s that tries to capture behavior and not identity. It was crafted to avoid stigmatizing and culturally laden terms such as gay or bisexual, which do not capture the wide diversity of orientations, sexual practices, cultures, and contextual settings in which male same‐sex behaviors occur, and where HIV transmission and acquisition risks are centered. MSM includes both gay and non‐gay identified men, bisexual men, and MSM who identify themselves as heterosexuals. It also includes men engaging in "situational" sex between men, such as can occur in prisons, schools, militaries or other environments; and it includes male sex workers who may be of any orientation but are often at very high risk for HIV. MSM may include some biologically male transgender persons, though some do not identify as male. And MSM includes a wide array of traditional and local terms worldwide–with enormous cultural diversity in Asia, Africa, Latin America and elsewhere. We use the term MSM here at its most inclusive.

Societal and legal impediments inhibit quality HIV prevention, care, treatment and support services and need to be removed. The political declaration adopted by UN member countries at the high-level meeting on HIV and AIDS in June 2021, included new societal enabler global targets for achievement by 2025 that will address this gap. Our paper describes how and why UNAIDS arrived at the societal enabler targets adopted. We conducted a scoping review and led a participatory process between January 2019 and June 2020 to develop an evidence-based framework for action, propose global societal enabler targets, and identify indicators for monitoring progress. A re-envisioned framework called the '3 S's of the HIV response: Society, Systems and Services' was defined. In the framework, societal enablers enhance the effectiveness of HIV programmes by removing impediments to service availability, access and uptake at the societal level, while service and system enablers improve efficiencies in and expand the reach of HIV services and systems. Investments in societal enabling approaches that remove legal barriers, shift harmful social and gender norms, reduce inequalities and improve institutional and community structures are needed to progressively realize four overarching societal enablers, the first three of which fall within the purview of the HIV sector: (i) societies with supportive legal environments and access to justice, (ii) gender equal societies, (iii) societies free from stigma and discrimination, and (iv) co-action across development sectors to reduce exclusion and poverty. Three top-line and 15 detailed targets were recommended for monitoring progress towards their achievement. The clear articulation of societal enablers in the re-envisioned framework should have a substantial impact on improving the effectiveness of core HIV programmes if implemented. Together with the new global targets, the framework will also galvanize advocacy to scale up societal enabling approaches with proven impact on HIV outcomes.

Societal and legal impediments inhibit quality HIV prevention, care, treatment and support services and need to be removed. The political declaration adopted by UN member countries at the high-level meeting on HIV and AIDS in June 2021, included new societal enabler global targets for achievement by 2025 that will address this gap. Our paper describes how and why UNAIDS arrived at the societal enabler targets adopted. We conducted a scoping review and led a participatory process between January 2019 and June 2020 to develop an evidence-based framework for action, propose global societal enabler targets, and identify indicators for monitoring progress. A re-envisioned framework called the '3 S's of the HIV response: Society, Systems and Services' was defined. In the framework, societal enablers enhance the effectiveness of HIV programmes by removing impediments to service availability, access and uptake at the societal level, while service and system enablers improve efficiencies in and expand the reach of HIV services and systems. Investments in societal enabling approaches that remove legal barriers, shift harmful social and gender norms, reduce inequalities and improve institutional and community structures are needed to progressively realize four overarching societal enablers, the first three of which fall within the purview of the HIV sector: (i) societies with supportive legal environments and access to justice, (ii) gender equal societies, (iii) societies free from stigma and discrimination, and (iv) co-action across development sectors to reduce exclusion and poverty. Three top-line and 15 detailed targets were recommended for monitoring progress towards their achievement. The clear articulation of societal enablers in the re-envisioned framework should have a substantial impact on improving the effectiveness of core HIV programmes if implemented. Together with the new global targets, the framework will also galvanize advocacy to scale up societal enabling approaches with proven impact on HIV outcomes.