Strengthening HIV /AIDS Services for MARPS in PNG Program

The project's second quarter of implementation, spanning from October to December 2012, saw significant progress in planning and implementing project activities. FHI 360 staff conducted orientation and sensitization for senior management and project staff from seven implementing agencies. The first draft of the Strategic Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) Strategy was developed with support from Matthew Avery, SBC Technical Advisor from FHI 360 Asia Pacific Regional Office. FHI 360 staff also developed the peer education training curriculum and conducted the peer education training in NCD and Madang. The project team focused on increasing demand for HIV/AIDS services by MARPs, their sexual partners, and their families. FHI 360 PNG developed a draft Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) strategy for MARPS with technical assistance from Matt Avery and is currently working on an implementation plan for the strategy. FHI 360 PNG is in the process of finalizing SBCC materials for the HIV MARPS project, which include "risk cards" that are used by women in transactional sex (WTS) and men who have sex with men (MSM) to conduct a self-assessment of their level of risk for HIV. FHI 360 has continued to distribute condoms and lubricants to implementing agencies that will distribute the unbranded condoms and lubricants directly to beneficiaries during individual and group outreach sessions as well as indirectly through outlets. FHI 360 distributed a total of 65,000 condoms (57,000 cola-scented male condoms and 8,000 female condoms) to implementing agencies in NCD and Madang. A total of 26,000 lubricant packets were also distributed to implementing agencies. The project's implementing agencies, including Four Square Church, Salvation Army, and PLWHA, distributed a total of 12,873 condoms, including 11,830 unbranded male condoms and 1,043 female condoms, to target populations. During this reporting period, these three agencies also distributed a total of 2,605 lubricant packets and 172 IEC materials. HIV/AIDS and STI pamphlets were obtained from Madang PAC. The distribution of condoms through outreach interventions is expected to increase in quarter three. During this quarter, the outreach interventions focused on the development of data collection and reporting tools and training for staff on these tools. PLWHA, Four Square Church, and Salvation Army successfully recruited a combined total of 30 peer educators and five field support officers (FSOs) who are responsible for supervising the outreach teams. FHI 360 conducted Basic Peer Educator Training for all the peer educators and FSOs recruited in Madang and NCD to equip them to generate service demand among MARPs. The peer educators reached a total of 171 MARPs (58 WTS, 23 men in transactional sex (MTS), 12 MSM/transgender (TG) men, 34 high-risk women, and 44 high-risk men) through one-to-one contacts. The majority (158) were reached by the team from PLWHA who worked with MARPs in the previous USAID RDMA-funded HIV project. Four Square Church and the Salvation Army initiated activities following training from FHI 360; these agencies reached 13 MARPs. The project's implementing agencies are preparing to conduct hotspot mapping that will identify locations where sex is negotiated and takes place. Guidelines and tools were developed, and the mapping exercise is expected to start the second week of April 2013.