Using Unique Identifier Codes to Improve Outreach Among Sex Workers

The project, funded by USAID's Social Marketing for HIV Prevention Project, aims to promote HIV prevention products and services to sex workers, including those who use drugs. In 2010, the project made nearly 40,000 contacts with sex workers across the four provinces. The UIC system allows the project to monitor coverage of each sex worker while respecting their need for anonymity and privacy. Each sex worker is assigned a nine-digit code based on unique information, including the first initials of their parent's names, the province where they were born, their gender, and the year of their birth. The UIC system has enabled the project to determine that it had reached 6,100 individual sex workers, with an average of 6.5 contacts per year. Additionally, 13% of all sex workers reached during the year reported using drugs. The project's use of UIC data has improved its understanding of the scale and coverage of its program activities. The UIC system has also been endorsed by the Vietnam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control (VAAC), which has officially asked partners to integrate it into their interventions. The project has provided UIC training and follow-up support to other PEPFAR partners targeting sex workers, and a pilot is currently being implemented in Hai Phong province before expanding to other priority provinces across Vietnam. The project's outreach worker, Nguyen Thi Thanh, uses the UIC system to monitor and track her interactions with sex workers. Thanh's work involves door-to-door visits to sex workers in various locations, including cafes that serve as fronts for sex work businesses. Thanh's efforts aim to promote HIV prevention products and services, including condoms and HIV testing, to sex workers who may be at risk of contracting the virus. The UIC system has been instrumental in enabling the project to reach sex workers who may be difficult to access, such as those who move frequently or are reluctant to engage with outreach workers. The system's ability to respect the anonymity and privacy of sex workers has also helped to build trust and increase the effectiveness of the project's outreach activities.