ViiV Healthcare Monday awarded its first round of small grants to support men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender community-led interventions to reduce stigma and discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity/expression and/or HIV status. 23 non-governmental and community-based organizations will receive up to £25,000 ($38,000) per year over a two year period through the Positive Action for MSM and Transgender program.
Grantees from the following countries were selected from 237 applications received from 79 countries:
- Bolivia
- Canada
- El Salvador
- Germany
- Ghana
- Guyana
- India
- Latvia
- Macedonia
- Malaysia
- Middle East and North Africa
- Namibia
- New Zealand
- Pakistan
- Paraguay
- Russia
- Rwanda
- South Africa
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- United States
- Vietnam
The grantees’ organizations – which run projects in 38 countries all over the world – were selected by an advisory board of external experts following a formal call for proposal in March 2015.
“We can attribute the overwhelming number of applications received as part of our first small grants Request for Proposal to the enormous need to help reduce societal pressures, such as stigma and discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, that people living with HIV face,” said Michael N. Joyner, director of Positive Action and Patient Advocacy, ViiV Healthcare. “Through the Positive Action for MSM and Transgender program, we hope to address the impact of the HIV epidemic in this underserved population.”
The chairman of the Positive Action MSM and Transgender program advisory board, Juan Jacobo Hernandez from Colectivo Sol added, “The grantees’ organizations – through their geographies and the scope of the programs – selected will help make a real difference to MSM and transgender individuals in local communities all over the world. In that sense, the Positive Action program is a welcome addition to existing interventions that address the challenges of stigma and discrimination.”
Selected grantees will receive funding to carry out projects that specifically relate to achieving three outcomes:
- Reducing the level and impact of stigma experienced by MSM and transgender individuals
- Increasing access to health related services
- Enhancing the capacity of community based organizations that engage MSM and transgender communities in reducing HIV
MSM and transgender populations are often stigmatized and isolated. Positive Action for MSM and Transgender launched in March 2015 to support interventions that will empower MSM and transgender communities who face significant stigma, discrimination and inadequate access to appropriate HIV care. Through the program, ViiV Healthcare has committed to invest £2 million per year – £1 million to fund small grants and another £1 million for targeted interventions – to support these communities as they develop their capacity to lead, participate in policy-making and address the severe health disparities and health service access issues affecting MSM and transgender individuals.
Globally, MSM and transgender individuals are among those at highest risk of HIV infection; however, the World Bank estimates that fewer than one in 10 MSM and transgender individuals worldwide has access to the most basic package of preventive interventions. Prevalence rates among MSM and transgender populations are consistently higher than for men of reproductive age in the general population wherever MSM have been studied; and scant data on transgender individuals reveals transgender women are 48.8 times more likely to be infected with HIV than the general population.
Globally, young people comprise over 40% of new HIV infection and many of them are MSM and transgender individuals.
To learn more about the Positive Action for MSM and Transgender program or for information on how to submit a proposal for the next call for proposals, please visit: https://www.viivhealthcare.com/community-partnerships/positive-action-for-msm-transgender/
