The federal government has awarded the University of California Los Angeles $193,989 in taxpayer funds to study skill-building as HIV prevention for male sex workers in Peru.

The grant was issued by the National Institute of Mental Health, a part of the National Institutes of Health, and proposes “a pilot study for a group that has been neglected in the Peruvian HIV epidemic, namely male sex workers (fletes).”

Men having sex with men in Peru have a “high burden of HIV” at 10 to 15 percent, compared to male sex workers, who have a 23 percent prevalence, researchers found.

According to the grant, recent HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) research in Peru has focused on “possible bridge populations” that include: heterosexually identified men, male sex partners of pregnant women, male clients of female sex workers, and men who have sex with men and women.

“However, there has been limited epidemiologic research and no prevention research focusing on fletes,” the grant said. “Our research has demonstrated that fletes are an important component of the Peruvian HIV epidemic with specific social, cultural, and behavioral characteristics that place them at high risk for acquisition and transmission of HIV and STIs.”