P23.12
Background: Research documents high HIV prevalence among young gay men, other men who have sex with other men (MSM) and transgender individuals (GMT) and reaching this highly vulnerable population in Kenya is hard. Our hypothesis is that empowerment of GMT testing positive to disclose their status to their partners and families and encourage them to go for testing as well can reduce their fear of isolation, increase their capacity for treatment access and retention, increase awareness among their colleagues, and inform development of appropriate services.
Methods: A group of 20 GMT+ who were enrolled on treatment and care were classified as index client and were used to reach other, their partners as friends. They were trained as on prevention with positive in regards to Positive, Health, Dignity and Prevention (PHDP) and formed an outreach team to conduct community PWP sessions among other fellow GMT/partners. They conducted health talk's forums on benefits of testing and treatment to their partners and peer and visited several support groups, raised visibility of HIV-positive GMT and advocated for treatment as prevention.
Results: Reach MSM through Index Client strategy” created spaces for GMT+ to reduce isolation, increased capacity for health and represented their own HIV care and treatment needs. Programmatic evaluation indicated increased knowledge in PWP concepts, including status disclosure, partner testing, and STI and other infectious disease screening, and benefits of adherence, etc. Qualitative evaluation at the end of the campaign showed increased knowledge and practice related to status disclosure, partner testing and adherence.
Conclusions: Empowerment of GMT+ and followed by treatment literacy campaigns has demonstrated opportunity to empower GMT+ to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS, combat stigma ad isolation, and inform development of services and holistic approaches for the health of GMT+ and help in reaching other GMT who are vulnerable or already positive in Kisumu County.
