Establishing a Canada-France research collaboration to reduce drug- and sexual-related harms among HIV-positive and -negative MSM

The aim of the proposed planning activities is to establish a set of new international Canada-France interdisciplinary research-practice-community collaborations to reduce drug- and sexual-related harms among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (MSM), including both HIV-positive and HIV-negative MSM. In both Canada and France, high rates of HIV incident infections persist among core groups of substance-using MSM, whereas other populations have experienced significant declines in HIV and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs) in recent years. Recent research attributes these inequities to a combination of high-risk sexual behaviour (e.g., unprotected anal intercourse) and substance use, including the use of stimulants (e.g. methamphetamine) and depressants (e.g., GHB). While new and emerging substance use treatment and prevention interventions hold great promise, it remains unclear how to effectively implement or adapt mainstream substance use treatment and prevention interventions to effectively address drug- and sexual-related harms that arise among MSM. To address these knowledge gaps, the proposed research planning grant will bring together a new team of investigators - including a mix of junior and senior researchers and trainees, knowledge users and community partners - to catalyze a program of research that will generate context-sensitive and population-specific evidence to inform substance use treatment and prevention interventions to reduce drug- and sexual-related harm among MSM. By establishing an international Canada-France collaboration, we will bring into sharper focus the pooled effects of how features of implementation context (e.g., pharmacological regulations; socio-cultural norms), health care delivery systems and individual behaviour impact the outcomes of on-going and future substance use treatment and prevention interventions where they have been implemented at different stages and with differential effects.