A recent ground-breaking symposium in Taiwan was the first meeting of its kind to explore the issue and health impacts of chemsex among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the Asia Pacific region.

Chemsex – combing sex with the use of recreational drugs such as crystal meth and GHB/GBL – is an emerging issue with growing concerns among MSM communities in Asia. However, health advocates believe awareness of the possible harms caused by certain substances is not as high in Asia as in Europe or America. They also believe there has been a lack of engagement around the issue between the MSM community in Asia and relevant local health sectors.

In response to this, the 1st Asia-Pacific Chemsex Symposium (APCS) was recently held in Taiwan. It was organised by Taoyuan City Government, Taoyuan City Hospital, and HIV Education and Research Taiwan (HEART), and was supported by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. More than 200 public health advocates, NGO workers, policymakers, healthcare providers, and community members from seven countries joined together to discuss and share their knowledge and experiences. We asked Dr Stephane Ku to provide an overview of chemsex as an MSM health issue as well as the key content which emerged from the symposium. Read more via APCOM