Key Population Program Implementation Guide

Key populations — sex workers (SWs), gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM), transgender people (TG), and people who inject drugs (PWID) — are disproportionately affected by HIV. At the same time, the stigma, discrimination, and threat of criminal prosecution faced by key populations around the world pose serious barriers to their ability to access high-quality, rights-based health care.

This implementation guide will be useful for LINKAGES staff members wherever the program is operating, and for organizations that implement the LINKAGES program at the local level ("on the ground"). Although the guide may help partners working with LINKAGES at the country level, such as Ministries of Health, the guide is designed for LINKAGES country programs. The guide is not exhaustive. It does not cover every intervention that could be useful, and it does not go into great detail about every aspect of an intervention. Instead, it aims to give information on the essential elements of the LINKAGES program, and to help standardize country programs based on proven, high-quality interventions from other countries.