African and Caribbean men who have sex with men

Why is this service important?

UNUH – BME Peer Support Group: Please feel free to come along, call 0121 643 0821 for more details or email: sexualhealth@blgbt.org

LGBTQ people from BME communities are statistically less likely to engage with sexual health services due to barriers such as homophobia, stigma, fear of being judged, social exclusion and social deprivation.
In many BME communities, men who have sex with men may not use the terms ‘gay’ or ‘bisexual’ to describe themselves. Good practice is to use the term ‘Men who have Sex with Men’ (MSM) rather than gay or bisexual men.
We are aware of these barriers and have sensitively developed specialist services to help reach out to the African and Afro Caribbean community.
According to the National AIDS Trust(NAT), the proportion of late diagnoses in 2015 was particularly high among black African (53%), followed by black other (49%), Asian (47%) and black Caribbean (46%) ethnicities.
Late diagnosis greatly impedes on response to treatment & quality of life.