UNAIDS report: Men 20% less likely to know their HIV status than women

The report, titled, ''Blind Spot: Reaching out to men and boys'', reveals that in sub-Saharan Africa, men and boys living with HIV are 20% less likely than women and girls to know their HIV status, and 27% less likely to be accessing treatment.

‘’Blind Spot’’ reveals that despite men's many social and economic advantages, they are less likely than women to seek out health care, to take an HIV test or to initiate and adhere to HIV treatment.

Co-Executive Director at Sonke Gender Justice, Dean Peacock, says the report highlights the loopholes in HIV treatment.

''If we look at HIV/Aids testing and treatment, men and boys are dramatically under-represented and that's because our health systems are appropriately oriented to reach women in their reproductive years.

"This significantly impedes our ability to meet our targets with regards to the AIDS response. If men are not getting tested, their less likely to use condoms, their less likely to protect their partners from HIV transmission and there are more likely to pass on the virus than they would if they were on treatment. So getting men into services is vital, it’s good for men, it's good for women and it's good for society at large.”

Sonke Gender Justice and UNAIDS have also released a short film showing ways in which South Africa, Kenya and Swaziland are working to strengthen HIV-related services for men.

Meanwhile, the Treatment Action Campaign's general secretary Anele Yawa cites a lack of quality health care services as a contributing factor.

Yawa says an improvement in public health care facilities in South Africa is key to tackling gender disparities in HIV/Aids treatment.

''As TAC we believe that it will be difficult for us as a country to end HIV/Aids if the public health care system is broken.

‘’If we improve the quality of health care services [in South Africa] we will be taking a few steps ahead of fighting and ending the spread of HIV/Aids.”

Similarly, Peacock concedes that in some of their research they've found that health care services are not visible enough in areas where they're are needed the most.

''Health services are set up in specific parts to reach women during their child rearing years and the facilities become out of reach not only for men, but children and women who are not in their reproductive years. As such, you won't see many facilities taken into the communities or workplace health care stations as often as they should.

''What we are seeing in some of the research is that if we take HIV testing and treatment services out to the community - which we are starting to see more with HIV mobile stations and self-testing services - health care services improves the gender disparities of HIV treatment.”