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While still an understudied area, there is a growing body of studies highlighting epidemiologic data on men who have sex with men (MSM) in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) which challenge the attitudes of complacency and irrelevancy among donors and country governments that are uncomfortable in addressing key populations (KPs). While some of the past inaction may be explained by ignorance, new data document highly elevated and sustained HIV prevalence that is seemingly isolated from recent overall declines in prevalence. The articles in this series highlight new studies which focus on the stark epidemiologic burden in countries from concentrated, mixed and generalized epidemic settings. The issue includes research from West, Central, East and Southern Africa and explores the pervasive impact of stigma and discrimination as critical barriers to confronting the HIV epidemic among MSM and the intersecting stigma and marginalization found between living with HIV and sexual minority status. Interventions to remove barriers to service access, including those aimed at training providers and mobilizing communities even within stigmatized peri‐urban settings, are featured in this issue, which further demonstrates the immediate need for comprehensive action to address HIV among MSM in all countries in the region, regardless of epidemic classification.

Muraguri N, Temmerman M, Geibel S. A decade of research involving men who have sex with men in sub-Saharan Africa: current knowledge and future directions. Muraguri N, Temmerman M, Geibel S. A decade of research involving men who have sex with men in sub-Saharan Africa: current knowledge and future directions. HIV transmission risk through anal intercourse: systematic review, meta-analysis and implications for HIV prevention. HIV prevalence, risks for HIV infection, and human rights among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Malawi, Namibia, and Botswana. Measuring population transmission risk for HIV: an alternative metric of exposure risk in men who have sex with men (MSM) in the US.

In the field of HIV prevention, there is renewed interest in operations research (OR) within an implementation science framework. The ultimate goal of such studies is to generate new knowledge that can inform local programmes and policies, thus improving access, quality, efficiency and effectiveness. Using four case studies from the USAID‐funded Research to Prevention (R2P) project, we highlight the strategic use of OR and the impact it can have on shaping the focus and content of HIV prevention programming across geographic and epidemic settings and populations. These case studies, which include experiences from several sub‐Saharan African countries and the Caribbean, emphasize four unique ways that R2P projects utilized OR to stimulate change in a given context, including: (1) translating findings from clinical trials to real‐world settings; (2) adapting promising structural interventions to a new context; (3) tailoring effective interventions to underserved populations; and (4) prioritizing key populations within a national response to HIV. Carefully crafted OR can bridge the common gap that exists between research‐generated knowledge and field‐based practice, lead to substantial, real‐world changes in national policies and programmes, and strengthen local organizations and the use of data to be more responsive to a given topic or population, ultimately supporting a locally tailored HIV response.