Demand for HIV prevention during Covid-19: testBKK Experience

Condoms and lubricants  are one of the main effective tools in HIV and STI prevention, and should be made available and accessible widely. APCOM’s testBKK has been helping to distribute condoms, lubricants and HIV awareness raising materials free of charge through our social media platforms through the HIV and STI prevention kit called ‘Party Pack’. 

“testBKK aims to promote sexual health in a more positive way, that you are encouraged to look after your sexual health, and that there is nothing to be ashamed of. tesBKK integrates HIV messages about different prevention options, regular HIV testing, living with HIV, and other information that our young gay men have about sexual health,”

commened Midnight, Executive Director of APCOM

Despite the pandemic, testBKK has distributed following:

April 2020 – December 2020 -> 1,140 party packs were distributed
51,015 condoms
51,015 lubricant packets

January 2021- September 2021 -> 3,781 party packs were distributed
140,144 condoms
14,927 lubricant packages
493 lubricant bottles

Clients would fill in the Party Pack order form through testBKK Facebook and Twitter – and we aim to reach those that are more vulnerable to not use condoms and lubricants consistently such as younger gay men and chemsex users. The Party Pack also utilises social influencers to reach these groups to ensure awareness raising and ordering of the Party Pack. Our most famous campaigns are “[email protected]#k without fear” and “Looking for fun don’t forget to play safe”

These eye-catching campaigns are launched every month, and the reservations for the Party Pack were completely booked in just within a day or two, and we can’t keep up with the demand. The feedback from our audience was overwhelmingly positive saying that this is a great service and continuing the service will be beneficial for the community. 

“I like the activity where #testBKK give away free condoms and lubricants. Sometime they also give out freebies like tote bags, hope that they keep doing this.”

@akaluk_luk

Moreover, clients also provided feedback from a survey that the Party Pack should also include HIV self-testing and chemsex harm reduction equipment also. 

To ensure privacy and the peace of mind of the recipient receiving the Party Pack, and to ensure non-discrimination from courier and family members, we have carefully put the contents in an enclosed black packaging without markings or logos that says it is a sexual health/HIV prevention pack. Also, testBKK encapsulated every lubricant with a cardboard box to ensure that no one could guess the content inside the package. testBKK uses an express service delivery from Thai postal service to ensure all recipients received their package in a timely manner.

With this high demand and high visibility in social media, we have received generous support from the Global Fund and USAID in supplying condoms and lubricants. Furthermore, we also received support from the business sector; Durex which supplies condoms size 52 millimetres, 56 millimetres and lubricants. Andrew Christian (the most famous brand of sexy underwear, which is well-known within the gay community) supports underwear for the campaign. And our latest supporter is a popular dating application called Jack-D, supporting funding for the campaign. 

The Party Pack is a crucial tool for young gay men and other men who have sex with men, and chemsex users in preventing HIV and other STIs. However, they may have challenges in obtaining the tools by themselves especially during the pandemic. From testBKK experience, the demand is huge and we need support in order to keep up with the demand.

If you would like to support testBKK HIV and STI prevention pack distribution, please contact:

Thisanut Kaewnukul(Bright) at [email protected] 

Read also:

Share this
FacebookTwitterPinterestEmailWhatsApp

Tags: