title: Transgender populations and HIV: unique risks, challenges and opportunities.
abstract: Due to unique social, behavioural, structural and biological issues, transgender (TG) populations, especially TG women, are at high risk for HIV acquisition. This increased risk is multifactorial, due to differing psychosocial risk factors, poorer access to TG-specific healthcare, a higher likelihood of using exogenous hormones or fillers without direct medical supervision, interactions between hormonal therapy and antiretroviral therapy, and direct effects of hormonal therapy on HIV acquisition and immune control. Further research is needed to elucidate these mechanisms of risk and to help design interventions to reduce HIV risk among transgender populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Retrovirology, US Army Medical Directorate-Armed Forces Research Institute of the Medical Sciences, Bangkok, Thailand; Henry M Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Tanyaporn
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wansom
authors.affiliation: Department of Society and Health and Center for Health Policy Studies , Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities , Mahidol University , Nakorn Pathom , Thailand.
authors.forename: Thomas E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Guadamuz
authors.affiliation: Department of Retrovirology, US Army Medical Directorate-Armed Forces Research Institute of the Medical Sciences, Bangkok, Thailand; Henry M Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Sandhya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vasan
keywords: HIV; sex steroid hormones; transgender