Theme: Models of Care Year: 2024
Background: The prevalence of HIV among young injectors in Myanmar’s hard-to-reach regions remains a significant public health concern. These areas encounter challenges in accessing healthcare services and implementing effective interventions due to geographical isolation and resource constraints. To address this issue, the AIS (HIV/TB Agency, Information and Services Activity) project started in FY 2022 and aimed to support HIV case findings through diverse modalities across five high-burden regions. This programmatic review scrutinizes the strategies employed by the AIS project in enhancing HIV case identification among young injectors in these remote areas.
Description of model of care/intervention/program: The project has strategically deployed mobile HIV screening services to reach remote and underserved areas, ensuring broader coverage. Voluntary Counselling and Testing centers (VCT) has been actively promoted to encourage individuals to voluntarily seek testing. In FY2024 Q1, the outreach was expanded through the Social Network Strategy (SNS), and HIV self-testing options were incorporated to improve accessibility.
Effectiveness: The implementation of the AIS project revealed the following achievements with valuable lessons. Testing coverage success for young injectors among PWIDs reached 20% (n=5,386) out of PWIDs (n=26,655), highlighting the effectiveness of targeted interventions. Young injectors demonstrated a positive rate of 17% (n=921), exceeding the overall positive rate of 15% (n=3,906) among PWIDs. This emphasized the importance of tailored strategies. Contributions to testing among young injectors, out of all PWIDs aged, were 23% through mobile services, 20% via SNS, and 17% through VCT.
Conclusion and next steps: The AIS project has successfully demonstrated its potential to make a substantial impact on HIV prevention and testing among young injectors in Myanmar. Continuing efforts should prioritize the expansion of SNS to maximize impact. This assessment will serve as a solid foundation for future HIV testing initiatives, advocating for policy changes towards innovative testing, fortifying partnerships with local stakeholders and guiding subsequent studies aimed at refining and improving strategies.