ViiV Healthcare Awards 23 Small Grants to Help Alleviate the Stigma of HIV and AIDS in the MSM and Transgender Community Globally

London (ots/PRNewswire) -

ViiV Healthcare today awarded its first round of small grants to
support men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender community-led
interventions to reduce stigma and discrimination based on sexual
orientation, gender identity/expression and/or HIV status. 23
non-governmental and community-based organisations will receive up to
GBP25,000 per year over a two year period through the Positive Action
for MSM and Transgender programme.

Grantees from the following countries were selected from 237
applications received from 79 countries:

- Bolivia
- Canada
- El Salvador
- Germany
- Ghana
- Guyana
- India
- Latvia
- Macedonia
- Malaysia
- Middle East and North Africa
- Namibia
- New Zealand
- Pakistan
- Paraguay
- Russia
- Rwanda
- South Africa
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- United States
- Vietnam

The grantees' organisations - which run projects in 38 countries
all over the world - were selected by an advisory board of external
experts following a formal call for proposal in March 2015.

"We can attribute the overwhelming number of applications received
as part of our first small grants Request for Proposal to the
enormous need to help reduce societal pressures, such as stigma and
discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, that
people living with HIV face," said Michael N. Joyner, director of
Positive Action and Patient Advocacy, ViiV Healthcare. "Through the
Positive Action for MSM and Transgender programme, we hope to address
the impact of the HIV epidemic in this underserved population."

The chairman of the Positive Action MSM and Transgender programme
advisory board, Juan Jacobo Hernandez from Colectivo Sol added, "The
grantees' organisations - through their geographies and the scope of
the programmes - selected will help make a real difference to MSM and
transgender individuals in local communities all over the world. In
that sense, the Positive Action programme is a welcome addition to
existing interventions that address the challenges of stigma and
discrimination."

Selected grantees will receive funding to carry out projects that
specifically relate to achieving three outcomes:

- Reducing the level and impact of stigma experienced by MSM and transgender
individuals
- Increasing access to health related services
- Enhancing the capacity of community based organisations that engage MSM and
transgender communities in reducing HIV

MSM and transgender populations are often stigmatised and
isolated. Positive Action for MSM and Transgender launched in March
2015 to support interventions that will empower MSM and transgender
communities who face significant stigma, discrimination and
inadequate access to appropriate HIV care. Through the programme,
ViiV Healthcare has committed to invest GBP2 million per year - GBP1
million to fund small grants and another GBP1 million for targeted
interventions - to support these communities as they develop their
capacity to lead, participate in policy-making and address the severe
health disparities and health service access issues affecting MSM and
transgender individuals.

Globally, MSM and transgender individuals are among those at
highest risk of HIV infection[1]; however, the World Bank estimates
that fewer than one in 10 MSM and transgender individuals worldwide
has access to the most basic package of preventive interventions[2].
Prevalence rates among MSM and transgender populations are
consistently higher than for men of reproductive age in the general
population wherever MSM have been studied[3]; and scant data on
transgender individuals reveals transgender women are 48.8 times more
likely to be infected with HIV than the general population.[4]

Globally, young people comprise over 40% of new HIV infection and
many of them are MSM and transgender individuals.[5]

To learn more about the Positive Action for MSM and Transgender
programme or for information on how to submit a proposal for the next
call for proposals, please visit: https://www.viivhealthcare.com/comm
unity-partnerships/positive-action-for-msm-transgender

About Positive Action

Positive Action was created in 1992 as the first pharmaceutical
company programme to support communities affected by HIV and AIDS.
ViiV Healthcare is proud to continue the Positive Action programme
and its valuable work with these communities. Positive Action works
with those communities most vulnerable to HIV disease, including
youth, girls and women, sex workers, gay men, men who have sex with
men (MSM), transgender people, injecting drug users (IDU), the
homeless and the incarcerated. Our projects range across education,
prevention, care and treatment-related activity such as treatment
literacy and community/clinical engagement.

About ViiV Healthcare

ViiV Healthcare is a global specialist HIV company established in
November 2009 by GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer dedicated to delivering
advances in treatment and care for people living with HIV. Shionogi
joined in October 2012. The company's aim is to take a deeper and
broader interest in HIV/AIDS than any company has done before and
take a new approach to deliver effective and new HIV medicines, as
well as support communities affected by HIV. For more information on
the company, its management, portfolio, pipeline and commitment,
please visit http://www.viivhealthcare.com

References

1. Beyrer et al. Global epidemiology of HIV infection in men who
have sex with men. Figure 1. Lancet. 2012 July 28; 380 (9839):
367-377

2. The World Bank Report. The Global HIV Epidemics among Men Who
Have Sex with Men, 2011. Available at: http://siteresources.worldbank
.org/INTHIVAIDS/Resources/375798-1103037153392/MSMReport.pdf .
Accessed October 2015.

3. The World Bank Report. The Global HIV Epidemics among Men Who
Have Sex with Men, 2011. Available at: http://siteresources.worldbank
.org/INTHIVAIDS/Resources/375798-1103037153392/MSMReport.pdf .
Accessed October 2015.

4. Baral SD, et al. Worldwide burden of HIV in transgender women:
a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Infect Dis.
2013:13:214-22.

5. World Health Organization and UNAIDS. Technical Guidance Note
for Global Fund HIV Proposals: Prevention, Treatment, Care and
Support for Young People, May 2010. Available at: http://www.who.int
/hiv/pub/toolkits/YoungPeople_Techical_Guidance_GlobalFundR10_May2010
.pdf . Accessed October 2015.

ots Originaltext: ViiV Healthcare
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
Sébastien Desprez (UK), +44-7920-567-707, Global Communications,
ViiV Healthcare; Marc Meachem, (US), +1-919-483-8756, US
Communications,
ViiV Healthcare