The seventeenth annual Gay Health Forum – an event organised by the Gay Men’s Health Service and the Gay Health Network, an Irish advocacy organisation working to protect gay and bisexual men’s health – will take place on Friday May 24th, from 9.30am to 4.00pm, at Dublin Castle.

The Gay Health Forum is open to all those involved and interested in improving and enhancing the sexual health and wellbeing of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men.

With rates of HIV and other STIs on the rise in Ireland, it’s an opportunity for those who deliver services to the gay community, and the community itself, to discuss, share and acknowledge the developments in the response to STIs.

Attendance is free but registration through the Gay Health Network website is essential.

This year’s keynote speakers are Bruce Richman, Nathan Sparling and Rusi Jaspal.

Bruce Richman is Executive Director of Prevention Access Campaign’s Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U) movement, a growing international movement that shares the revolutionary but largely unknown fact that people living with HIV on treatment with an undetectable viral load cannot transmit HIV to sexual partners. Bruce will share why it’s important for us to accept the science and embrace the movement.

Nathan Sparling is Chief Executive of HIV Scotland, an organisation that fought for PrEP to be made free on the Scottish NHS. He’ll reflect on almost two years of PrEP access – full and free in Scotland – and what that means for getting to zero.

Rusi Jaspal, Professor of Psychology and Sexual Health at De Montfort University, Leicester, is a leading academic voice in encouraging the enhancement of sexual healthcare for men who have sex with men. He will offer insight into the lives, narratives and identities of community members and how these impact good sexual health and wellbeing.

These three prominent advocates for men’s health will be joined by an engaging lineup of national and international speakers, with further details soon to come in a full event programme.