DONOR:
Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF)
NAME OF GRANT:
CODE Strategies Project:
Community-Led Online and Digital Engagements to Reduce HIV Prevalence and Advance Equity among LGBTQI+ in Asia-Pacific
PRINCIPAL RECIPIENT:
APCOM Foundation
SUB RECIPIENT:
APCOM Foundation, Thailand
Bangkok is home to an estimated 80,124 people living with HIV, with 1,101 new cases reported in 2023 (Thailand total: 580,000 PLHIV; 9,100 new cases). testBKK, APCOM’s flagship demand generation campaign, uses digital content and creative activations to drive testing and PrEP uptake among gay men and other MSM.
Introduction / About the project:
Under the CODE Strategies project, testBKK serves as the Thailand country campaign, implemented directly by APCOM. It links high-volume digital content with clinic booking funnels — promoting nine clinics across the Bangkok area — and campaigns spanning HIV testing, PrEP, PEP, DoxyPEP and condom use.
Project Objectives / Goals:
- Reduce HIV infections among young LGBTQI+ people and key populations through digital demand generation.
- Strengthen community capacities to lead online awareness, advocacy, and person-centred health approaches.
- Widen availability and accessibility of community-led HIV prevention tools such as PrEP, HIV testing, and person-centred care.
- Increase the agency of LGBTQI+ communities to report human rights violations and influence policy responses.
Activities:
- Publication of 22 long-form knowledge articles on testBKK.org (17,729 views in one quarter) covering sexual health, HIV prevention, LGBTQI+ rights and harm reduction.
- 282 social posts in one quarter across Facebook (52,154 reactions; 150,409 engagements; 6,694 new fans), Instagram and X (191,318 impressions), plus fortnightly TikTok drops exceeding 1 million views.
- Distribution of 1,719 party packs to gay men and other MSM, and campaign reach of 373,516 with 12,000 engagements in a single period.
- Online self-assessments via social media, dating apps, websites and messaging apps: 645 mpox risk respondents and 807 HIV prevention respondents.
- Clinic promotion and online booking: advertising campaigns for nine Bangkok clinics, with booking funnels tracked and optimised (e.g. 1,599 link hits converting to bookings).
- Regional public goods: leading development of the Asia-Pacific Person-Centred Care manual and a regional training-of-trainers with 14 community trainers from six countries.
Partners:
Nine partner clinics in Bangkok, social media and dating app platforms, and CODE Strategies country partners across six countries.
Meet the people behind the project
