PREP SCHOOL FOR MEN (WHO HAVE SEX WITH MEN): PEER COUNSELOR TRAINING FOR A NATIONAL HIV PREP PROGRAM AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF BIOMEDICAL BELONGING IN THE PHILIPPINES

This project is an ethnographic study of MSM-focused (“men who have sex with men”) community-based organizations in charge of the rollout of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in the Philippines. By looking into the ways in which “peer counselors” are trained to infuse ideas of personhood and community into their work, this project asks how the articulation of drug use and clinical consultations with sexual practices, friendship, and care not only affects public health programs but also creates new lifeworlds and personhoods for MSM.