WHO Issues Policy Brief on HIV Prevention Among Transgender Populations

This new technical brief summarizes essential information and existing World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations for HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care among transgender populations.

The 2011 WHO guidance, Prevention and Treatment of HIV and Other Sexually Transmitted Infections Among Men Who Have Sex With Men and Transgender People, did not separate recommendations for transgender people from those for men who have sex with men. The 2014 WHO Consolidated Guidelines on HIV Prevention, Diagnosis, Treatment and Care for Key Populations acknowledge that the “high vulnerability and specific health needs of transgender people necessitates a distinct and independent status in the global HIV response” and consider transgender people as a separate key population. However, to date, no global WHO document has addressed these needs exclusively. To fill that gap, this technical brief highlights WHO recommendations on HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment care and needs of transgender people.