Here is a press release and a link to FB photos from the TOP anniversary earlier this week.
Does TOP and other prevention activities for female sex workers and men who have sex with men need to be scaled up or become more focused to have a even greater impact on HIV incidence among these two populations? Or both? Or neither?
I'm sure the Ambassador knows that this has been a bad month for human rights in America.
Jamie
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PRESS RELEASE
The 10th Anniversary of the Targeted Outreach Program (TOP) is celebrated in Myanmar
December 10th 2014
December 10th marks the tenth anniversary of the “Targeted Outreach Program (TOP),” one of the largest and most effective HIV prevention programs in Myanmar. TOP was launched in 2004 by Population Services International (PSI), initially with support from the United States government through the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and since supported by many donors including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria, 3MDG, UNFPA, and SOAIDS.
In line with the Ministry of Health’s strategy on HIV/AIDS, TOP provides HIV prevention services for those most at risk of HIV/AIDS, especially female sex workers (FSWs) and men who have sex with men (MSM). TOP currently consists of 17 Drop-in Centers nationwide to serve these vulnerable populations.
The 10th Anniversary celebration was attended by a wide range of officials, including Ambassador of the United States to Myanmar Mr. Derek J. Mitchell, USAID Mission Director Mr. Chris Milligan, and UNAIDS Director Mr. Eamonn Murphy.
After hearing moving testimonials from MSM and FSWs, including those living with HIV, Ambassador Mitchell remarked, “As I hear the stories this morning, your courage is obvious. What you face is tremendous in its challenge. It’s a privilege for us to be able to help create an environment where this community can not only exist but grow and thrive and where you can all support each other. I admire all the commitment, and the courage, and the loyalty in this place.”
Ambassador Mitchell went on to say, “Last week was World AIDS Day, and the vision is for an AIDS Free Generation. And today is Human Rights Day, worldwide. And those are obviously connected –Human Rights Day, an AIDS Free Generation, and the TOP centers. You cannot separate the notions of human rights and equal treatment for everybody, from the issues of health and national development. We cannot be complacent about the challenge of HIV/AIDS. The United States government will continue to work on the health system here and to support work on this particular disease.”
Over the past ten years, TOP has distributed more than 14 million quality condoms, treated more than 104,000 cases of sexually transmitted infections, conducted more than 92,000 HIV tests, and identified over 8,000 cases of HIV with referral to treatment. Over the years, TOP has expanded its services to include STI screening and treatment, TB screening and treatment, as well as family planning and reproductive health counseling, and cervical cancer screening.
UNAIDS/Myanmar Director Murphy also spoke at the event, saying “TOP is one of the most effective parts of the national response to HIV in this country. But we need to sustain, and even scale up our efforts on HIV prevention. At the International AIDS Conference in Australia earlier this year, TOP presented research findings showing that FSWs who attend TOP are four times more likely to get tested for HIV compared with FSWs who do not attend TOP. Those kinds of outcomes are hugely important for Myanmar. We need to find ways to effectively support people who are most vulnerable to HIV to practice healthy behaviors.”
TOP is now moving more into HIV treatment. In 2014, the National AIDS Program (NAP) came to a mutual agreement with TOP that all the TOP centers will come on-line as decentralized sites for delivering anti-retroviral treatment to people living with HIV/AIDS, starting with five TOP centers in 2015.
TOP is led by Dr. Saung Oo, a Burmese doctor who oversees the organization along with a team of more than 200 staff, including outreach workers in 17 sites who come from the FSW and MSM communities. TOP is run primarily by FSWs and MSM themselves, thus reflecting the TOP motto – For the community, by the community.
For more information about TOP, please contact TOP Director Dr. Saung Oo at sozarni@psimyanmar.org or TOP Technical Director Robert Gray at rgray@psimyanmar.org.
https://www.facebook.com/robert.gray.5245/media_set?set=a.10152818110234765.1073741825.700539764&type=1
