The Huffington Post
Natasha Hinde
Original Article: huff.to/1zgL8jh
A new action plan has been launched to support the health and wellbeing of men who have sex with other men.
Public Health England (PHE) has launched the campaign in an attempt to cancel out inequalities affecting gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men. The latter group are men who have sex with men on occasion, but who do not identify as gay or bisexual. The health body have adopted the umbrella term ‘MSM’ to refer to this group.
Since its launch, the campaign has sparked mixed emotion within the MSM community, with one writer likening their support plan to a "festering wound" which fails to get to the heart of the problem.
The plan, which is the first of its kind from a national body, aims to tackle serious health issues that directly affect MSM such as being "burdened with ill-health", including higher risks of HIV infection.
MSM are also twice as likely, according to a series of studies quoted by PHE, to be diagnosed with depression or anxiety, and twice as likely to be dependent on alcohol than the rest of the male population.
Additionally, the group is likely to suffer from higher rates of cardiovascular disease, asthma and diabetes.
Full text of article available at link below: huff.to/1zgL8jh
