As a man, it is fine to have sex with another man, if that is what you like. It is no problem, as long as you do not cause problems for society.
PHNOM PENH, 13 March 2008 - On behalf of the Royal Government of Cambodia, the National AIDS Authority (NAA) today formally adopted and launched a national strategic plan for HIV
prevention, care and support among men who have sex with men in Cambodia. The plan covers a period starting this year until 2011.A launching workshop and ceremony were held at the Phnom Penh Hotel in Phnom Penh. High level officials from the NAA, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Interior and many representatives of MSM organizations, NGOs and UN agencies were present.
"As a man, it is fine to have sex with another man, if that is what you like. It is no problem, as long as you do not cause problems for society", said His Excellency Um Vuthy, Deputy Secretary General of the NAA, during the closing ceremony, "This means: do not get infected by HIV, and do not pass HIV on to others."
On a question by a participant why 'changing MSM to start getting used to love women' was not part of the strategy, Secretary General of the NAA, His Excellency Teng Kunthy, who led the development of the strategy with the National MSM Technical Working Group, replied: "MSM are like this. It is in their nature, in their genes. They like men, and there is nothing wrong with that, it is OK. We can not try to change their nature." Dr Kunthy has made repeated calls for increased Government and civil society investment in HIV prevention for MSM.
The development of the strategy was undertaken by David Lowe, consultant, and funded by UNAIDS/USAID/FHI with involvement and support from PSI, the HIV/AIDS Alliance, Pact and UNESCO. The development of the Strategic Framework and costed three-year Operational Plan was a participatory process involving a broad range of partners from government to bi- and multilateral partners, NGOs and civil society organizations. strategy was discussed and finalized via the Cambodia National MSM Working Group, part of the Purple Sky Network.
Key gaps in scaling up HIV responses for MSM in Cambodia include a lack of community-based MSM organizations, stigma and discrimination in health care settings, a lack of human resources and technical support and a lack of funding. In terms of research, there is a need to conduct a population size estimation and there is a lack of qualitative data on identities and communities of MSM, their self-perceptions, risk perceptions and health seeking behaviors.
During the closing ceremony, Mr Jan W de Lind van Wijngaarden, speaking on behalf of UNESCO, UNAIDS and the Asia-Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health (APCOM) where he represents UNESCO, complimented the Government of Cambodia in general and Dr Teng Kunthy in particular for their commitment, vision, leadership and the excellent working relationship that has been established between Government officials and MSM representatives and CBOs in Cambodia.
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