Opportunities and Next Steps

Differentiated Service Delivery (DSD)

Develop additional guidance and provide technical assistance to support community-based organizations in establishing differentiated HIV services that are responsive to the unique needs of key populations and people living with HIV.

• Continue supporting community-based research, including cost-effectiveness studies which can be used to convince governments of the initiation or continuation of much-needed, community-based services. To this end, capacity building and technical assistance in data collection and research methods, is essential for strengthening community-based research.

HIV Prevention Services and PrEP

• Advocate for same-day initiation to PrEP after receiving a negative HIV test result.
• Co-ordinate South-South cooperation activities with countries in the region who have already successfully rolled out PrEP to support countries in earlier stages of implementation.
• Organise information sharing platforms for partners to exchange knowledge and guidance on implementing PrEP for people who inject drugs and its use as an effective prevention method in the context of Chemsex. This may involve capacity building for health service providers to improve knowledge of PrEP, to be able to advise clients accordingly.
• With the prospect of long-lasting injectable PrEP being on the horizon, begin discussions and planning for procurement and rollout.

Undetectable=Untransmittable (U=U)

• Support dissemination of the updated AHSM U=U guidelines and infographics which can also be translated into different languages (AHSM can be contacted to initiate this).
• Encourage further dialogue around U=U and Chemsex by facilitating an exchange of information with partners and research institutions, in order to strengthen the evidence base and develop guidance around U=U in the context of Chemsex.

Community-led mechanisms and community-based monitoring

• Establish clear sets of criteria for community representation, to ensure that all voices are heard equally.
• Conduct technical capacity building for key populations, to strengthen meaningful community engagement and encourage movement towards a localization of planning, implementation and monitoring by shifting tasks to the
community, whilst providing technical support
• Community-leaders call for action to ensure that Global Fund Budgets reflect the current times and the ‘new normal’. Current allocations of money are insufficient to cover the costs of PPE and COVID-19 resources as programming and priorities are shifting so regularly.
• Advocate for budget approval processes for reprogramming within the Global Fund to be fast-tracked if organizations are to be able to implement activities within the expected timelines.
• Community-leaders call for APCOM to organize knowledge sharing sessions with SKPA countries, as a space to share lessons learned in community-based monitoring and use of the community-based monitoring tool.
• Platforms should be established where CBOs can access emergency funding for the community during times of crisis.
• Advocate for funding to maintain regional networks that provide a vital lifeline for many community-based organizations throughout the region.