ViiV Healthcare Awards 23 Small Grants to Help Alleviate the Stigma of HIV and AIDS in the MSM and Transgender Community Globally

PR62315

LONDON, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

     ViiV Healthcare today 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

organisations will receive up to GBP25,000 per year over a two year period

through the Positive Action for MSM and Transgender programme.

    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' organisations - 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 programme, we hope to

address the impact of the HIV epidemic in this underserved population."

    The chairman of the Positive Action MSM and Transgender programme advisory

board, Juan Jacobo Hernandez from Colectivo Sol added, "The grantees'

organisations - through their geographies and the scope of the programmes -

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

programme 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 organisations that engage MSM

and transgender communities in reducing HIV

    MSM and transgender populations are often stigmatised 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 programme, ViiV Healthcare has committed to invest GBP2

million per year - GBP1 million to fund small grants and another GBP1 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[1]; 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[2]. 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[3]; and scant data

on transgender individuals reveals transgender women are 48.8 times more likely

to be infected with HIV than the general population.[4]

    Globally, young people comprise over 40% of new HIV infection and many of

them are MSM and transgender individuals.[5]

    To learn more about the Positive Action for MSM and Transgender programme

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

    About Positive Action

    Positive Action was created in 1992 as the first pharmaceutical company

programme to support communities affected by HIV and AIDS. ViiV Healthcare is

proud to continue the Positive Action programme and its valuable work with

these communities. Positive Action works with those communities most vulnerable

to HIV disease, including youth, girls and women, sex workers, gay men, men who

have sex with men (MSM), transgender people, injecting drug users (IDU), the

homeless and the incarcerated. Our projects range across education, prevention,

care and treatment-related activity such as treatment literacy and

community/clinical engagement.

    About ViiV Healthcare

    ViiV Healthcare is a global specialist HIV company established in November

2009 by GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) dedicated to

delivering advances in treatment and care for people living with HIV. Shionogi

joined in October 2012. The company's aim is to take a deeper and broader

interest in HIV/AIDS than any company has done before and take a new approach

to deliver effective and new HIV medicines, as well as support communities

affected by HIV. For more information on the company, its management,

portfolio, pipeline and commitment, please visit http://www.viivhealthcare.com

    References

    1. Beyrer et al. Global epidemiology of HIV infection in men who have sex

with men. Figure 1. Lancet. 2012 July 28; 380 (9839): 367-377

    2. The World Bank Report. The Global HIV Epidemics among Men Who Have Sex

with Men, 2011. Available at:

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTHIVAIDS/Resources/375798-1103037153392/MSMReport.pdf

. Accessed October 2015.

    3. The World Bank Report. The Global HIV Epidemics among Men Who Have Sex

with Men, 2011. Available at:

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTHIVAIDS/Resources/375798-1103037153392/MSMReport.pdf

. Accessed October 2015.

    4. Baral SD, et al. Worldwide burden of HIV in transgender women: a

systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Infect Dis. 2013:13:214-22.

    5. World Health Organization and UNAIDS. Technical Guidance Note for Global

Fund HIV Proposals: Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support for Young People,

May 2010. Available at:  

http://www.who.int/hiv/pub/toolkits/YoungPeople_Techical_Guidance_GlobalFundR10_May2010.pdf

.  Accessed October 2015.

SOURCE: ViiV Healthcare