Our project, run by and for gay men and sex workers in Myanmar, will provide free, rapid HIV tests for more than 300 gay men and sex workers in Yangon, Myanmar. Myanmar is one of the poorest countries in the world, and homosexuality and sex work here are still illegal. For the approximately 30 of those 300 people tested who will find out they are HIV+, the project will support them to initiate and stay on HIV treatment for a year.
Most gay men, trans women, and sex workers avoid the healthcare system in Myanmar for fear of arrest or stigma, because homosexual relations and selling sex are illegal here. When driven underground like this, they are unlikely to access health care, including HIV testing. People fear knowing their HIV status because they wrongly consider HIV to be a death sentence, not realizing it can be managed. That's why most of the people living with HIV here are unaware that they even have the disease.
Our project, called the Targeted Outreach Program or "TOP", allows gay men and sex workers to access life-saving HIV testing and treatment for free. TOP outreach workers are on the streets daily, providing education and spreading the word that HIV is treatable and that testing & treatment are available at TOP for free. TOP staff are either gay men, trans women, sex workers or people living with HIV, making it a friendly environment for marginalized populations to get HIV testing and treatment.
The latest research proves "treatment is prevention," meaning that getting people with HIV on treatment both manages their disease and also reduces their risk of transmitting HIV to others. But the "prevention benefit" of treatment can only be fully realized when people get tested early and get quickly on treatment. Our project is working to make this happen in Myanmar. With each person we get on HIV treatment, the more we help reduce the overall HIV "viral load" in the community.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
