How community organisations and digital campaigns are strengthening HIV prevention and rights across Asia and the Pacific
Across Asia, community organisations are using digital campaigns, trusted partnerships and community-generated evidence to make HIV services more accessible, inclusive and responsive.
Supported by the Elton John AIDS Foundation, APCOM’s CODE Strategies Project works with five country partners across India, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines and Viet Nam. APCOM also implements the project’s Thailand activities directly, while The Humsafar Trust provides technical support to Aastha Parivaar in India.
Together, these partners are connecting communities with HIV testing and PrEP, strengthening person-centred care and exploring how digital tools can support community-led monitoring and advocacy.
Their experiences demonstrate a simple but powerful principle: HIV programmes work best when communities help design, lead and evaluate them.
From online engagement to trusted services
Digital communication is now an essential part of community-led HIV prevention.
Social media posts, campaign videos, online reservation systems and culturally relevant events can provide a first point of contact for people who may feel uncomfortable approaching a conventional health facility. But online reach alone is not enough. Successful campaigns must also provide clear pathways to trusted testing, PrEP, treatment and care.
This approach is central to testXXX, APCOM’s regional model for community-led HIV prevention and demand generation. Beginning with testBKK in Bangkok, the model has been adapted for cities including Mumbai, Jakarta, Kathmandu, Manila and Ho Chi Minh City.
Under CODE Strategies, each campaign responds to its own community context.
India: testBOM
In Mumbai, Aastha Parivaar implements testBOM with technical support from The Humsafar Trust.
The campaign combines digital outreach with Aastha Parivaar’s established relationships with sex worker and LGBTQI+ communities in Mumbai and Thane. It directs community members to HIV testing and PrEP services while strengthening coordination with district authorities and community resource groups.
The partners also supported person-centred care training for 30 frontline healthcare workers, promoting HIV services that are inclusive, respectful and free from discrimination.
Indonesia: testJKT
GWL-INA’s testJKT campaign combines digital demand generation with community-led monitoring of health and human rights.
Developed through consultations with gay men, bisexual men, other men who have sex with men, transgender women, outreach workers and other LGBTQI+ community members, testJKT uses digital content, influencers, offline testing activities and an online reservation system to connect people with services across Greater Jakarta.
In 2025, the reservation system linked more than 500 people with essential health services through local outreach organisations.
Indonesia has also become a leading pilot country for the KeyPop Mobile App. GWL-INA adapted the tool into Bahasa Indonesia and piloted data collection in Bogor, Palu, Padang, Medan and Malang. The pilot recorded 54 entries concerning human rights violations and barriers to services, helping turn community experiences into evidence for advocacy.
Nepal: testKTM
The Blue Diamond Society leads testKTM in Kathmandu.
The campaign brings together a dedicated website, social media influencers, Pride activities, community partnerships and links to HIV testing and PrEP. During its first year, its digital activities reached more than 12,000 community members and beneficiaries.
BDS-supported services reached 4,439 people, tested 1,374 and initiated 392 on PrEP.
The organisation also convened a national dialogue on community-led monitoring and facilitated person-centred care workshops for 32 government health providers and seven community members.
These activities have strengthened the ability of communities not only to use HIV services, but also to monitor their quality and advocate for improvement.
Philippines: testMNL
In Metro Manila, the HIV & AIDS Support House built testMNL as a vibrant, community-made campaign.
Since its launch in August 2024, testMNL has combined social media campaigns, community photoshoots, bar and campus activities, self-testing services and formal partnerships with clinics and community organisations.
Between April and June 2025, HASH tested 4,047 people through its community-based services. From October to December 2025, it conducted another 2,713 HIV tests through community-based screening and self-test kits.
Campaigns such as #GetTested, #PrEPtected, #fromPilltoPower and #PopUP-PrEP make HIV prevention visible in the places—both physical and digital—where communities already connect.
Thailand: testBKK
Implemented directly by APCOM, testBKK continues to use accessible and creative content to keep HIV testing and prevention visible among gay men and other men who have sex with men in Bangkok.
In one reporting quarter, the team published 22 long-form knowledge articles and produced 282 posts across Facebook, Instagram and X. Its regular TikTok content generated more than one million views.
The campaign also promotes nine Bangkok clinics and guides online audiences towards HIV testing appointments, PrEP, PEP and other sexual health services.
testBKK shows how sustained digital engagement can make reliable sexual health information easier to find, understand and act upon.
Viet Nam: testSGN
CARMAH implements testSGN in Ho Chi Minh City, working with community organisations, private clinics, the city health authority and academic partners.
The campaign uses a dedicated website, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, community-produced videos and partnerships with digital platforms to reach young men who have sex with men, other MSM and transgender women.
From January to March 2025, 3,077 LGBTQI+ people were referred for or tested for HIV following campaign engagement, while 466 accessed PrEP.
From April to June 2025, testSGN recorded 4,130 enquiries, resulting in 2,209 HIV-testing referrals and 491 PrEP linkages.
Cultural activities that bring together art, community expression and PrEP information have helped make the campaign engaging while remaining grounded in community needs.
Making HIV care more person-centred
Connecting someone with an HIV service is only the beginning. The experience they have when they arrive can determine whether they return, recommend the service to others or disengage from care.
CODE Strategies therefore complements digital demand generation with work to strengthen person-centred care.
The project supported the development of an Asia-Pacific Person-Centred Care Manual and trained 14 community trainers from six countries through a regional training-of-trainers programme.
Country partners have since adapted this approach to their own contexts, working with healthcare providers, community members and health authorities to promote services that respect each person’s identity, circumstances and choices.
Putting community evidence into action
CODE Strategies also supports community-led monitoring through the KeyPop App.
The tool is intended to help communities document their experiences of accessing health services and identify human rights concerns and structural barriers. The resulting evidence can help community organisations engage service providers, human rights institutions and policymakers.
Indonesia’s pilot demonstrates the potential of this approach. Community data collected through the app has contributed to advocacy documents and discussions with national human rights institutions.
The purpose is not simply to collect more information. It is to ensure that communities can use their own evidence to improve services, strengthen accountability and advocate for change.
Meet the people behind the project
Behind every referral, campaign and data point are people whose knowledge and relationships make the work possible.
In India, Murugesan S., known as Murugesh, coordinates CODE Strategies for Aastha Parivaar. His work connects digital outreach with the organisation’s trusted relationships among sex worker and LGBTQI+ communities.
In Indonesia, Jian Nova has helped lead both testJKT and the KeyPop App pilot for GWL-INA. Her work demonstrates how communication, community documentation and advocacy can reinforce one another.
In Nepal, Suman Nepal leads the project for the Blue Diamond Society. He has guided the development of testKTM while strengthening community capacity for monitoring and evidence-based advocacy.
In the Philippines, Aremm Castrillo has helped build testMNL from the ground up. Her work spans campaign development, community engagement, service delivery and partnerships across Metro Manila.
In Thailand, Suriya Phongphunngam, known as Bobo, creates accessible sexual health content for testBKK, helping transform complex information into material that communities can understand and use.
In Viet Nam, Vu Thai Hoang, known as Ritchie, coordinates testSGN for CARMAH. His work brings together digital storytelling, community participation and partnerships with clinics and health authorities.
Their roles are different, but their purpose is shared: ensuring that communities are not treated merely as recipients of HIV programmes, but recognised as leaders of the response.
Communities at the centre
The UNAIDS Global AIDS Strategy 2026–2031 calls for stronger community leadership, people-centred services, action on inequalities and the protection of human rights.
CODE Strategies puts these principles into practice.
Through community-designed digital campaigns, trusted referral pathways, more inclusive care and community-generated evidence, APCOM and its partners are helping create HIV responses that are both more effective and more equitable.
Because behind every campaign is a community. And behind every community are people leading change.
The CODE Strategies Project
The CODE Strategies Project strengthens HIV responses and human rights advocacy for LGBTQI+ communities across Asia-Pacific through online and digital innovations. Implemented by APCOM Foundation and partners across six countries, the project mobilises community-led digital demand-generation and rights-monitoring platforms to advance health equity, safety, and inclusion.
