Introduction
In Myanmar, men who have sex with men (MSM) experience high risk of HIV infection. However, access to HIV testing and prevention services remains a challenge among this marginalized population. The objective of this study was to estimate population prevalence and correlates of prior HIV testing among young MSM (YMSM) and informs the development of HIV testing and intervention programmes that respond to the specific needs of this population.

Methods
Five hundred and eighty-five YMSM aged 18 to 24 years were recruited using respondent-driven sampling (RDS) in a cross-sectional survey conducted in six townships of Myanmar. RDS-adjusted population estimates were calculated to estimate prevalence of HIV testing; RDS-weighted logistic regression was used to examine correlates of HIV testing in the past 6 months and in a lifetime.

Results
There were 12 participants who reported receiving a HIV-positive test; of those, five were tested in the past 6 months. The RDS-weighted prevalence estimates of lifetime (any prior) HIV testing was 60.6% (95% CI: 53.3% to 66.4%) and of recent (≤ 6 months) HIV testing was 50.1% (95% CI: 44.1% to 55.5%). In multivariable analysis, sexual identity was associated with lifetime but not recent HIV testing. Lifetime and recent HIV testing were associated with having three or more male sexual partners in the past 12 months (adjusted ORs (aORs) = 2.28, 95% CIs: 1.21 to 4.32 and 2.69, 95% CI: 1.59 to 4.56), having good HIV-related knowledge (aORs = 1.96, 95% CIs: 1.11 to 3.44 and 1.77, 95% CI: 1.08 to 2.89), reporting high HIV testing self-efficacy (aORs = 13.5, 95% CIs: 6.0 to 30.1 and 9.81, 95% CI: 4.27 to 22.6) and having access to and use of non-HIV health-related services in the past 12 months (aORs = 13.2, 95% CIs: 6.85 to 25.6 and 7.15, 95% CI: 4.08 to 12.5) respectively.

Conclusions
HIV testing coverage among YMSM aged 18 to 24 years old in Myanmar is still suboptimal. Integrated HIV testing and prevention services in existing health service provision systems with tailored HIV information and education programmes targeting YMSM to improve HIV-related knowledge and self-efficacy may help to promote regular HIV testing behaviour and contribute to sustainable control of the HIV epidemic among this marginalized population in Myanmar.

/pdf/factors-associated-with-hiv-testing-among-young-men-who-have-2wtgoohc5b.pdf

Factors associated with HIV testing among young men who have sex with men in Myanmar: A cross-sectional study

This article is concerned with exploring how ideas about genes and genetic relationships are rendered meaningful in everyday life. David Morgan’s concept family practices has significantly shaped s...

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0038026117711645

Genetic thinking and everyday living: On family practices and family imaginaries

Concurrent with the decline in intercountry adoption, there has been an increase in commercial global surrogacy over the past decade, but no international law yet exists to reconcile conflicting national laws and protect the interests of infant/child, surrogate mother, and commissioning parent(s). Previous discussion has focused on the vulnerability of the surrogate mothers and insufficient attention has been given to the best interests of the child, despite the fact that some children have been left stateless for years as a result of conflicting policies. Using the principles of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, social workers and policy makers should advocate for the development of international law to regulate commercial global surrogacy in order to prevent children’s rights violations and act in the best interests of the child.

/pdf/regulating-commercial-global-surrogacy-the-best-interests-of-52q8apwd6u.pdf

Regulating Commercial Global Surrogacy: the Best Interests of the Child

The emergence of a neoliberal mode of governance in the 1970s occurred in tandem with the advent of new reproductive technologies These two developments have fundamentally altered social life, and have resulted in the emergence of new governable subjects In the case of neoliberalism the new subject is the neoliberal citizen, a responsible, self-sufficient individual free to make choices in the context of the free market In the case of assisted reproductive technologies, donor-conceived people, egg donors, surrogates, and LGBTQ parents using reproductive technologies have emerged as new reproductive citizens to be governed in public policy and law 

This dissertation traces the confluence of these developments and the emergence of neoliberal and (assisted) reproductive citizens in the policy process leading to the 2004 Assisted Human Reproduction Act Drawing on policy documents, parliamentary debates, interviews with key actors, media coverage, and the “grey literature” from interest group actors (ie, pamphlets, websites, flyers, brochures), this dissertation argues that federal governance of assisted reproductive technologies occurred in ways that reflect the imperatives of a neoliberal citizenship At the same time, infertile people, LGBTQ people, donor-conceived families, egg donors and surrogates emerged differently in the policy debates, media, and jurisprudence as important subjects in the governance of ARTs, and at times, there were attempts to protect the interests of the vulnerable in the legislative process In the end, however, concerns about the interests of reproductive citizens, including women’s health and autonomy, the kinship ties of children born of these technologies, and the need to prevent infertility on a large scale were supplanted by a continuation and indeed, an escalation of practices in assisted reproduction that embrace commercialization and individual choice above all

Controlling Conception: Citizenship and the Governance of Assisted Reproductive Technologies in Canada (1989-2004)

Background African-American and Latino patients are often difficult to recruit for asthma studies. This challenge is a barrier to improving asthma care and outcomes for these populations. Objectives We sought to examine the recruitment experiences of 8 asthma comparative effectiveness studies that specifically targeted African-American and Latino patients, and identify the solutions they developed to improve recruitment. Methods Case report methodology was used to gather and evaluate information on study design, recruitment procedures and outcomes from study protocols and annual reports, and in-depth interviews with each research team. Data were analyzed for themes, commonalities, and differences. Results There were 4 domains of recruitment challenges: individual participant, institutional, research team, and study intervention. Participants had competing demands for time and some did not believe they had asthma. Institutional challenges included organizational policies governing monetary incentives and staff hiring. Research team challenges included ongoing training needs of recruitment staff, and intervention designs often were unappealing to participants because of inconveniences. Teams identified a host of strategies to address these challenges, most importantly engagement of patients and other stakeholders in study design and troubleshooting, and flexibility in data collection and intervention application to meet the varied needs of patients. Conclusions Asthma researchers may have greater success with recruitment by addressing uncertainty among patients about asthma diagnosis, engaging stakeholders in all aspects of study design and implementation, and maximizing flexibility of study and intervention protocols. However, even with such efforts, engagement of African-American and Latino patients in asthma research may remain low. Greater investment in research on engaging these populations in asthma research may ultimately be needed to improve their asthma care and outcomes.

Subhasri Ghosh

Papers

Wombs in labour: Transnational commercial surrogacy in India.