Two young men are sitting on a couch scrolling on their phones when May Oo, a famous makeup artist and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) activist in Myanmar, joins them wearing a face mask and carrying a bag of drinks. He announces that a friend who works at an HIV clinic in Yangon told him that pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, is now available in Myanmar. As one friend is unaware of PrEP, May Oo shares his knowledge, also informing anyone else wo would like to listen in.

This scene, from a video shared on the Facebook pages of implementing partners of the USAID HIV/AIDS Flagship (UHF) Project, is one of several to raise awareness and demand PrEP as a prevention tool for men who have sex with men and transgender women in Myanmar. In these videos by celebrated members of the LGBTQ community and other educational posts, questions covered include what PrEP is, why it should be taken, and where to get it. As May Oo’s friend in the video puts it, ‘PrEP is a drug that can prevent HIV.’

Since 2016, PrEP has been included as a priority intervention in Myanmar’s National Strategic Plan on HIV/AIDS following recommendation by the World Health Organization that it be used as an essential part of HIV prevention services. It was also an objective of the UHF Project to introduce PrEP in Myanmar and integrate it into existing HIV services, since the project’s inception in August 2017.

The UHF Project, overseen by UNAIDS Myanmar and the non-governmental organisation Community Partners International, aims to develop, implement, and scale up innovative, cost-effective approaches to the HIV care cascade in Myanmar. As one of the innovative HIV prevention activities under the National Strategic Plan IV (2020-2025), the initial 18-month PrEP demonstration project began in July 2020 at three clinics in Yangon for men who have sex with men and transgender people.

Along with the pilot was a plan to expand the project for people who inject drugs in Kachin State since the UHF Project’s overarching goal is to foster interventions such as PrEP for Myanmar’s four key populations at highest risk for HIV—people who inject drugs, men who have sex with men, transgender people, and female sex workers in the five states and regions with the highest burden of HIV—Kachin and Shan States and Mandalay, Sagaing, and Yangon.

Formative assessments conducted prior to the inception of these PrEP services indicated that PrEP awareness in Myanmar was very low. Fewer than a quarter of focus group participants—comprised of men who have sex with men, transgender women, and people who inject drugs—had heard of PrEP prior to the assessment. Service providers interviewed as part of the assessments also described low PrEP awareness among their clients.

Once educated about PrEP, however, most study participants agreed that PrEP would benefit their communities and that people at risk would be interested and willing to take PrEP. Awareness raising and community education have been one of the UHF Project’s focuses to increase PrEP uptake in Myanmar.

That is where videos such as May Oo’s are important. By using celebrities, private chat groups, and informational posts alongside interactive follow up by service providers for recruitment of PrEP clients, implementing partners not only educate people at risk for HIV on PrEP as a prevention option but also address the stigma around it.

Respondents to a midterm analysis conducted one year into the PrEP project reported that Facebook was the primary source of PrEP information and education, as the potentially more effective approach of fully-fledged in-person outreach is not feasible in the country’s current situation.

‘There are many in rural areas who do not have access to or use social media platforms,’ reports Ma Shin Thant, a PrEP client and activist currently based in Mandalay for her work with transgender women. As PrEP is currently only available in Yangon, Ma Shin Thant is fortunate that she can afford access to required testing and PrEP delivery in Mandalay.

‘The next chapter of PrEP in Myanmar calls for greater political commitment, more resources, a decentralised and simplified delivery system, and innovative community-centred approaches to ensure access by populations who need PrEP,’ concurs Rangaiyan Gurumurthy, UNAIDS Myanmar Country Director. ‘Moving from the demonstration phase to reaching scale with epidemic impact is now necessary.’

Despite decades of advances in prevention and treatment, stigma and discrimination towards people living with HIV and key populations are a persistent barrier to addressing the epidemic. To encourage innovative approaches to address HIV-related stigma and discrimination in the region, UNAIDS has launched a new tool: the HIV-Related Stigma and Discrimination Community of Practice: Asia and Pacific Region.

HIV-related stigma and discrimination significantly impacts the health, lives and well-being of people living with or at risk of HIV, especially key populations. The Global AIDS Strategy 2021-2026 has prioritized the realization of human rights and elimination of stigma and discrimination by including new global targets that UN Member States have committed to as part of the 2021 Political Declaration. Yet, people living with HIV and key populations continue to face unfair treatment, rejection, abuse and even violence in various settings, including in their communities, healthcare, workplace, justice and education systems.

In Asia and the Pacific, which is the world’s most populous region, there were 6 million people living with HIV in 2021 and 86% of people living with HIV knew their status. Furthermore, amongst young people almost all new HIV infections are among key populations (gay men and other men who have sex with men, transgender people, sex workers, people who use drugs) and their sex partners who face many barriers in accessing HIV prevention and treatment services.

The online community of practice platform will capture and disseminate knowledge, experiences and innovative ideas and approaches to inform programming to reduce stigma and discrimination across the region.

“Relevant stakeholders working in the HIV response in Asia and the Pacific region are welcome to join the interactive platform and engage on the issues,” said Taoufik Bakkali, UNAIDS Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific. “Academics and researchers, communities of people living with or affected by HIV and of key populations, representatives of government ministries and other relevant government agencies, and civil society groups working on the HIV response are all encouraged to join and shape the conversation.”

The initiative is expected to foster south-south stakeholder dialogue and collaboration on interdisciplinary initiatives on programme design and implementation, the development and knowledge management of HIV-related stigma and discrimination and the creation of opportunities for peer learning and exchange of good practices and lessons learned.

“This platform provides an opportunity for all stakeholders to engage and shape responses to HIV-related stigma and discrimination while engaging communities in the process,” noted Harry Prabowo, the APN+ Program Manager. “This is an opportunity to link the science and evidence to innovative programming.”

While the number of new HIV infections in Indonesia decreased by 3.6% in 2021 to around 27 000, the country remains one of the countries with the highest number of new infections in the Asia and the Pacific region. Pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP is a medication that is highly effective at preventing HIV infection so making it available to groups of people most vulnerable is a key priority.

“In the past, I independently searched for information about PrEP because a client asked about it. I am glad there is a PrEP training that allows me to receive comprehensive information that I can then share with other people,” said Temmy a community outreach worker who participated in a training course in Bekasi.

PrEP was rolled out in Indonesia in 2021 as a pilot project to provide a new HIV prevention option which may be more convenient for people at risk of HIV, and to reduce new HIV infections among key populations such as sex workers and gay men and other men who have sex with men. It began in 12 districts, before expanding to 21 districts in 2022, with the aim of getting 7000 people on to PrEP.

As part of the expansion, a second round of training sessions was conducted in August across nine cities in Indonesia: Bogor City, Bogor Regency, Depok, Bekasi, Tangerang, Batam, Balikpapan, Samarinda, and Sidoarjo. Over 120 services providers from 24 hospitals and 47 outreach workers from local communities took part.

The PrEP training for health providers and community outreach workers was conducted by the Ministry of Health of Indonesia in partnership with Kerti Praja Foundation, Padjajaran University, and the national MSM-TG Network (GWL-INA). It was supported by donors, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, USAID-PEPFAR and the Government of Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

"With less than a decade to go before our goal of ending AIDS by 2030, we must prioritize efforts to scale up combination prevention programmes, such as PrEP. The piloting of PrEP is critical to kickstart policy and programme development on PrEP in Indonesia. The conduct of training for service providers and community outreach workers is an integral part of the pilot implementation to ensure adequate capacities to provide PrEP services to communities in need,” said Krittayawan Boonto, the UNAIDS Country Director for Indonesia.

The PrEP training sessions are held over two days and include discussions between service providers and outreach workers. The aim is to equip and improve the capacity of the service providers and outreach workers to provide good quality PrEP services.

“This PrEP training has increased my knowledge of the alternative methods to prevent HIV. After this training, our health service office can now offer this new method of HIV prevention to our clients. We hope that this will contribute to the reduction of new infection risk. Thanks to this training, I have become more confident in providing PrEP services in the future,” said Doctor Elly from Lambuk Baja, Batam Province.

Unlike the first series of training sessions, the second was conducted in person and engagement was much higher. The enthusiasm also led to more active follow up after the training. One of the health centres in Bogor City started to provide PrEP services a couple of days after the end of the course. They also directly approached communities about the benefits of PrEP and within a month PrEP uptake had increased by 15%.

“As with all aspects of the HIV response, communities play a key role in the success of PrEP implementation. Contribution from the community is especially vital in the context of the pilot implementation in Indonesia, as communities of key populations with a substantial risk of HIV infection are the main beneficiaries of the programme,” said Muhammad Slamet, National Coordinator of the MSM-TG network (GWL Ina).

GENEVA, 22 August 2022—UNAIDS applauds Singapore’s announcement that it will repeal section 377a of the country’s penal code which criminalizes consensual sexual relations between men. The law, which dates back to 1938 when Singapore was under British colonial rule, punishes gay consensual sex by a prison sentence of up to two years.

In his annual policy address speech that included plans to repeal the legislation, Singapore’s Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, said sex between consenting men should not be criminalized and that there was no justification to prosecute people for it, nor to make it a crime. He said that gay people were fellow Singaporeans and that they wanted to live their own lives, participate in the community and contribute fully to Singapore.

“The end of the criminalisation of gay men is wonderful news, both for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Singapore, and for the country as a whole,” said Taoufik Bakkali, UNAIDS Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific region. “UNAIDS welcomes this as a significant step towards respecting the human rights of LGBT people in Singapore and creating a more open, tolerant and inclusive society where people can be who they are and love who they want without fear of being imprisoned. This vital change will save lives and benefit everyone, and will inspire other countries to follow. Other countries should join the growing group of nations who have turned away from criminalisation.”

Laws which punish consensual same sex relations, as well as contravening the human rights of LGBT people, are a major barrier to improving health outcomes, including in the HIV response. Punitive legislation embeds stigma and discrimination against LGBT people, deters LGBT people from seeking healthcare for fear of being denounced to the authorities and facing punishment and detention, and prevents countries from putting policies in place that properly respond to differentiated epidemics among their populations.

Singapore joins a growing list of countries that have recently decriminalized same-sex relations, including Antigua and Barbuda, Botswana, Bhutan and Angola. The change in Singapore will at last reduce the number of countries in which consensual same-sex relations are still criminalized to below 70 countries worldwide. Decriminalisation is not the end point in tackling stigma and exclusion, but is a vital step forward.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

“This is the first time I feel comfortable expressing my true identity," said Yogi one of the youth festival participants in Bali, Indonesia. "I am currently involved in this youth festival, and I feel safe being among new friends who are in a similar situation as me," Yogi added. "I also received new information about HIV as well as gaining access to counselling services that are a comfort.” 

In a conservative country like Indonesia, sex is considered a taboo subject. Whether with parents, teachers or other adults, discussing sex and sexual health with young people is strongly discouraged. Accessing comprehensive information on sex and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) is even more challenging for young key populations, who do not have many safe spaces for discussion and are not adequately empowered with knowledge due to marginalization and discrimination.

Data shows that the level of knowledge on HIV and the level of comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) among adolescents in Indonesia are still very low. According to the 2017 Demographic and Health Survey (IDHS), 82% of women and 83% of men have heard of HIV and AIDS. Unfortunately, only 14% of women and men aged 15-24 have comprehensive knowledge of HIV. The lack of comprehensive knowledge about HIV contributes to the low demand for and access to HIV prevention and testing services, making it more difficult to curb new HIV infections in Indonesia.

“I gained access to HIV-related services only after I had been diagnosed, so I was feeling quite hopeless then," said a youth participant in a focus group discussion held by Inti Muda, the national young key population network. "I used to think that once you are infected with HIV, you will certainly die, so I used to feel scared seeking help by going to HIV services,” the participant added.

With the intention of addressing the challenges experienced by young key populations in accessing health information and services, Inti Muda and UNAIDS Indonesia, with support from the Government of Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), initiated a series of Youth Festivals in various cities in Indonesia.

These festivals provided young key populations with a safe and comfortable space for collective discussion, expression and learning about issues important to their sexual health and well-being. The event not only included education about HIV and SRHR, it also provided opportunities for young people the to show off their talents while raising the topic of HIV and sexual and reproductive health and rights. Moreover, youth participants were able to access free HIV testing on site, with youth-friendly counselling free from judgment and discrimination.

“The festivals allowed us to bring out our talents in public speaking, poetry reading, and storytelling towards HIV and SRHR issues. This showed that we can be empowered, creative and have talents to be leveraged,” expressed Febri, another participants in the youth festival in Jakarta.

Having activities tailored for young key populations and connecting young people with their peers to learn about HIV and SRHR contributes to the HIV response in Indonesia, as young people who are informed about their bodies are more empowered to protect themselves from HIV. This is especially crucial in Indonesia where young people (15-24) account for almost half of new HIV infections in the country.

“Educational methods or outreach activities that are too conservative sometimes can make youth reluctant to actively participate,” explained Sepi Maulana Ardiansyah, National Coordinator for Inti Muda Indonesia.

From February to April 2022, youth festivals were successfully held in 7 provinces in Indonesia, including Jakarta, South Sulawesi, Papua, Bali, North Sumatra, East Java, and West Java. Over 700 young people from key populations participated in these festivals and 140 participants accessed HIV testing services provided by Inti Muda in collaboration with local health provinces and Primary Health Centres.

"As we want to reach more young key populations as targeted beneficiaries, it is crucial for UNAIDS to be able to listen and believe in the approach that is used by Inti Muda Indonesia as a partner that is youth-led. This is done to ensure that youth empowerment, participation, leadership as well as activities and approaches are meeting the needs of young key populations,” said Krittayawan Boonto, the UNAIDS Country Director for Indonesia.

During the 50th Programme Coordinating Board meeting held in Geneva, Thailand announced formally funding community-led health services (CLHS) as public health services. The National Health Security Board of Thailand has approved HIV prevention, treatment, and care to be directly reimbursed by the Universal Health Coverage scheme.

“This is a key milestone for Thailand regarding sustainable community-led service delivery and sustainable financing for community-based organizations. It is a model for the region and countries globally,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS.

The role of community-led organizations in providing HIV services is well recognized as an essential component leading to ending AIDS by 2030. Using people-centered, rights-based and stigma-free approaches by and for key population community and people living with HIV has shown to lead to   an increased uptake of essential HIV services.

Since 2016, Thailand has started to fund project-based community-led HIV services through the Universal Health Coverage scheme. The allocation of the national budget has increased over time to support community-led organizations (CLO) working with people living with HIV and key populations.

However, until now, year-to-year contracting mechanisms led to operational gaps affecting the provision of HIV services. The formal recognition of community-led health services under the UHC scheme will allow for faster access to funding, continuity of service delivery, and increase CLOs capacity for greater coverage of HIV services. 

“To reach the ambitious goal of ending AIDS, we have partnered with community-based organizations who play a vital role in HIV service provision to hard-to-reach populations and marginalized communities,” said Anutin Charnvirakul, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Health of Thailand.

Organizations led by communities who are eligible to provide HIV and STI services in their communities can register as service providers under the National Health Security System. To get this recognition, they need at least one year of service experience and require an accreditation by the Ministry of Public Health or other certified bodies. Community health workers with relevant experience also have to be certified by a government agency or accredited organization.

The UNAIDS Thailand office has been working with different partners to support the scale-up of   community health workers' certification and other accreditations as well as strengthening the sustainability of the community response. 

In attendance at the 50th PCB were Dr Jadej Thammatacharee, Secretary General, National Health Security Office, Dr Opart Karnkawinpong, Director General, Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Dr Suwit Wibulpolprasert, Advisor to the Office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Health and the entire three day meeting was chaired by H.E. Mr Anutin Charnvirakul, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Health.

GENEVA, 17 June 2022—UNAIDS applauds the decision by the Supreme Court to issue directions on protecting the wellbeing and fundamental rights of sex workers under the Indian constitution, including the right to life and liberty with respect for an individual’s dignity. 

“This historic order will save lives and help India advance towards the goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030,” said David Bridger, UNAIDS Country Director for India. “The evidence is clear— protecting the safety and human rights of marginalised people expands access to HIV services, accelerating progress in the response to HIV by increasing the number of people on treatment and reducing new infections.” 

In its ruling in Budhadev Karmaskar versus the State of West Bengal, Criminal Appeal No. 135 of 2010, the Supreme Court has issued directions that the police and other relevant authorities should receive appropriate training to ensure that they are aware of sex workers’ rights and ensure they are upheld. The ruling also calls for sex workers who experience sexual violence to have full access to protection and support services, ending practices that undermine access to existing survivor-friendly procedures and protocols available to the general population. The directions confirm that the possession of condoms should not be treated as a criminal matter. They also direct the authorities to issue Aadhar cards, key for accessing poverty alleviation support, to sex workers who are unable to provide proof of residence; and require the development of media guidelines to protect the privacy and confidentiality of sex workers, and to ensure sex workers are informed about their legal rights, including the right to justice.

“We hope that all the recommendations made by the Supreme Court will be followed by all, especially the police and the press, as reflected in the ruling,” said Bharati Dey, Ex-Secretary, Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, and Bishakha Laskar, President of the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee. “We hope that the recommendations will diminish stigma and discrimination experienced by sex workers.”  

Sex workers, along with other marginalized communities, often find it difficult to access essential services, such as health, because of criminalization, stigma and discrimination. This ruling further underlines how evidence-informed, people-centred approaches are key to widening access to HIV treatment, prevention and care services, and to ending the AIDS pandemic for everyone.  

The Supreme Court of India has played a significant role in protecting and upholding the rights of marginalized communities over the past decade, granting hijras and other transgender people the right to recognition as a third gender, outlawing HIV-related discrimination, and striking down the provision in the Penal Code that criminalized consensual same-sex sexual conduct. 

From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was clear that life would be even more difficult for people living with HIV.  

“When experts identified how COVID-19 affected people, it was clear that people with compromised immune systems needed to get a heightened level of care and attention,” said Fardad Doroudi, the UNAIDS Country Director for the Islamic Republic of Iran. “We needed to be quick and agile to mobilize our resources and expertise to make sure that no person living with HIV was left behind.”

Throughout the multiple waves of COVID-19 in the country, UNAIDS has provided critical support to people living with and affected by HIV, providing personal protective equipment and medicines, supporting nongovernmental organizations with small grants to help communities, developing information, education and communication materials and developing a community-based monitoring and evaluation framework.

Personal protective equipment, such as masks, shields, gloves and sanitizer, is a key tool in preventing the spread of viruses such as the virus that causes COVID-19. UNAIDS provided 95 tonnes of personal protective equipment to the Ministry of Health and Medical Education and the State Welfare Organization to be distributed through HIV-related nongovernmental organizations. Items provided included 1.8 million face masks, 60 000 bottles of hand sanitizer and 40 000 boxes of latex gloves, among other equipment.

Multimonth dispensing, ensuring that people living with HIV who are on HIV treatment receive enough treatment to last several months in order to avoid frequent visits to health centres, is a key pillar of an HIV response in humanitarian crises and was at the centre of UNAIDS’ efforts during the pandemic in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

To ensure that people on HIV treatment received their life-saving medicines, UNAIDS procured and delivered more than 650 000 doses of Vonavir, which covered the needs of more than 7000 people living with HIV for nearly three months, and more than 520 000 doses of Truvada, which covered the needs of nearly 3000 people living with HIV for six months. The more than 10 000 people helped with treatment received their medicines through treatment centres across the country.

Ten nongovernmental organizations working on HIV were awarded 26 small grants to increase community engagement and help people living with HIV adapt to life during the COVID-19 pandemic, and reached more than 14 000 people. Some of the activities funded by the grants include income generation schemes, home-care services, online sales and commerce, mental health support, the development of e-learning platforms, the distribution of hygiene kits, food and medicines and holding virtual events and forums for awareness-raising and stress reduction.

UNAIDS also helped in creating impactful information, education and communication material to enhance knowledge and build awareness of the COVID-19 pandemic. In collaboration with the national AIDS programme, UNAIDS supported the production and dissemination of a series of animations by a local nongovernmental organization. The 16-minute animation series, split into three episodes, covers topics such as the basics of HIV in relation to COVID-19, prevention of the virus in the context of HIV, the importance of continuing HIV treatment and addressing stigma and discrimination. The videos were featured across a number of online channels and platforms, receiving more than 15 000 views to date.  

UNAIDS also developed and piloted a community-based monitoring and evaluation framework. This was born out of field monitoring activities carried out together with government partners and civil society organizations.

Online training sessions were organized for more than 200 people living with HIV and service providers. The sessions covered the basics of monitoring and evaluation of HIV-related COVID-19 programmes for nongovernmental organizations. The goal was to improve the effectiveness of monitoring and evaluation practices for HIV within the framework of the national strategic plan in order to improve the quality of HIV programmes in the country. 

“Relying on strong collaborations and partnerships was key for our fast response during a rapidly changing time,” said Mr Doroudi. “With the support of donors, a strong liaison with national counterparts and effective collaboration with other United Nations agencies, we managed to be a part of the overall support to people living with HIV, who had to deal with the health, social and economic challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.”

UNAIDS’ response to COVID-19 in the Islamic Republic of Iran was funded by the European Union’s humanitarian aid budget and was facilitated in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund. The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ministry of Health and Medical Education and the State Welfare Organization were the key governmental partners for the wide range of activities undertaken as part of the project.

“Young people here don’t regularly access HIV services. I really want to invite my friends to get tested, but they are all so afraid. They don’t have enough information or support from their families and are scared about finding out their status,” said Andika Bayu Aji, a young person from West Papua, Indonesia.

The HIV epidemic among young people in Asia and the Pacific has largely been overlooked, even though about a quarter of new HIV infections in the region are among people aged 15–24 years. The vast majority of young people affected by HIV in the region are members of vulnerable populations—people living with HIV, gay men and other men who have sex with men, transgender people, sex workers and people who inject drugs.

Like many countries in the region, Indonesia’s HIV infections among young people, which make up almost half of new infections, are attributed to stigma and discrimination, poor educational awareness of HIV, lack of youth-friendly services and social taboos.

“Young people far too often experience stigma and discrimination in health-care settings. Health-care workers are first-line responders. If the services are bad, young people won’t use them and they will tell other young people not to use them. We are limited by which clinics we can access because many, if not most, are not youth-friendly,” said Sepi Maulana Ardiansyah, who is known as Davi and is the National Coordinator for Inti Muda, the national network of young key populations in Indonesia.

A recent study conducted by Inti Muda and the University of Padjajaran found that the willingness of young people to access services in provinces like West Papua was very low, mainly due to the lack of youth-friendly services and the poor understanding of key population issues by health-care workers. Young people often face difficulty accessing services because of the remoteness of clinics and hospitals and encounter barriers such as the age of consent for testing.

Stigma and discrimination, and especially discrimination from health-care providers, discourages many young key populations from accessing HIV services. Concerns about privacy and confidentiality are some of the main challenges. Additional obstacles include that the opening hours of public clinics are often ill-suited to people’s daily routines, and the assumptions and attitudes of health-care workers can be judgemental, especially on issues around sexual orientation, gender identity and mental health.

Between 14 and 18 March, Inti Muda, with technical support from Youth LEAD and UNAIDS, organized a sensitization training of health-care workers in two cities, Sentani and Jayapura, in the West Papua region. More than 50 health-care workers participated. A few days before the training, Inti Muda organized a festival for more than 80 young people, joining in an effort to engage young people in the HIV response and generate demand for access to HIV services.

“Prior to this training, I didn’t know about the different needs of key populations, which hinders our ability to reach them. We learned about important techniques for reaching young people, such as providing youth-friendly counselling, digital interventions and encouraging them to get tested,” said Kristanti, from the District Health Office of Jayapura.

“I learned that the needs of young people are diverse. The training will allow us to improve our services to become youth-friendly, which is now our main priority,” added Hilda Rumboy, a midwife in charge of the HIV Services Department at the Waibhu Primary Health Centre.

The training and festival were supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). The recent investment of AU$ 9.65 million set aside by the Australian Government from the sixth replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund), including DFAT funding of AU$ 2 million previously committed to UNAIDS, is aimed at reducing the annual number of new HIV infections among key populations in Cambodia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines.

“Ensuring young people and vulnerable groups have access to accurate, digestible information about how to prevent HIV, and that testing facilities are cheap and accessible, is crucial to ending the AIDS epidemic. We are proud to work with local communities and UNAIDS to increase availability of information on HIV, improve the reach and quality of medical services and encourage young people and vulnerable groups to get tested,” said Simon Ernst, Acting Minister Counsellor for Governance and Human Development at the Australian Embassy in Indonesia.

The training is based on the manual developed by Youth LEAD in 2021, which was financially supported by the Global Fund’s Sustainability of HIV Services for Key Populations in Asia Programme and the UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Asia and the Pacific. Under the DFAT grant for the next two years, Youth LEAD will expand the training to two more countries, Cambodia and the Philippines, supporting networks led by young people in the respective countries to roll out the training.

“Young people still encounter many challenges that prevent them from accessing the life-saving health care they need. The UNAIDS Country Office for Indonesia is working closely with the UNAIDS regional support team and DFAT to ensure that networks led by young people have the capacity and leadership capabilities to take control of the HIV response and to have direct involvement in creating safe spaces where young people can access HIV services free from stigma and discrimination,” said Krittayawan Boonto, the UNAIDS Country Director for Indonesia.