Year 2 Report: HIV/AIDS Prevention in the Philippines: Reaching Out to Most-at-Risk Populations (ROMP) Project

The project is implemented by the Philippine Department of Health (DOH) with assistance from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The project's primary objective is to develop and test comprehensive package of services (CPS) models for MSM and PWID that can be adopted and recommended to other local government units (LGUs) for implementation. The CPS models aim to increase the effectiveness of peer education activities and address the loss-to-follow-up of clients along the HIV services cascade. During the Year 3 – Quarter 2 (Y2Q2) period, the ROMP project made significant progress in reaching and providing motivational interventions to clients. For the MSM component, a total of 318 MSM were reached and underwent Motiv8 sessions, bringing the total number of clients reached and provided with motivational interventions to 785 MSMs, which constitutes 98 percent of the end-of-project target. All the MSMs reached during the quarter underwent HIV-testing and received the corresponding result, with 17 diagnosed as HIV-positive and 7 initiating ARV treatment. For the PWID component, there were 259 new PWIDs reached and provided with motivational intervention during the quarter, exceeding the recruitment goals for the duration of the project (110 percent). The recruitment target for Cebu City has been fully achieved, while Lapu-Lapu City and Mandaue City have reached a cumulative total of 237 (70 percent) and 352 (93 percent), respectively. At the end of the quarter, a cumulative total of 1,056 clients had been tested and received their test results (92 percent). The project continued to collaborate and partner with other organizations and HIV-related projects for recruitment, diagnosis, and treatment of clients, including the Global Fund Transitional Funding Mechanism (GF-TFM) HIV Project. The project's progress is a significant step towards achieving the endline targets and ensuring the sustainability of interventions for MSM and PWID. The MSM component of the project focused on prevention and education, diagnosis of HIV, STIs, and TB, case management, care and support, strengthening behavioral change communication (BCC) programming, documenting lessons learned and standard operating procedures to support model replication, and managing transition and promoting sustainability of interventions. The PWID component also focused on prevention and education, diagnosis of HIV, STIs, and TB, case management, care and support, strengthening BCC programming, documenting lessons learned and standard operating procedures to support model replication, and managing transition and promoting sustainability of interventions. The project's implementation review and assessment revealed that the MSM component had reached 98 percent of the end-of-project target, while the PWID component had exceeded the recruitment goals for the duration of the project. The project's financial reports indicate that the project has been implemented within budget, and the communication and outreach efforts have been successful in engaging stakeholders and promoting the project's objectives. The project's collaboration with other organizations and HIV-related projects has been instrumental in achieving the project's objectives, particularly in terms of recruitment, diagnosis, and treatment of clients. The project's progress is a significant step towards achieving the endline targets and ensuring the sustainability of interventions for MSM and PWID.