Key Populations
Background
WOPLAH recognized the LGBTQ+ community to be a key population for the spread of HIV in Mumias, with 18.2% of HIV cases being among the men who have sex with men (MSM) population and 29.9% of HIV cases being within the female sex workers (FSW) population. To address the high cases of HIV among the LGBTQ+ population and decrease the spread of HIV, the Key Populations project was developed in 2018 and now supports 1,900 people. WOPLAH has worked with the LGBTQ+ community to encourage safe sex behavior and risk reduction as a means to limit HIV transmission. Through education, dialogues, testing, and support, WOPLAH aims to create a safe space for and to reduce stigma towards the LGBTQ+ and HIV positive community in order to improve health care accessibility and decrease HIV infection within this community.
Background
Objectives
Through the Key Populations project, WOPLAH intends to address the personal and social determinants which affect sexuality, health, education, access to services, life skills, and behavior. WOPLAH aims to increase agency and power for sustainable safe sexual behavior among the LGBTQ+ community to mitigate HIV transmission. WOPLAH intends to educate the community on sexually transmitted illnesses and HIV as well as the impact of risk behavior, such as alcohol and substance abuse, on HIV. By doing so, WOPLAH aims to encourage LGBTQ+ individuals to engage in health seeking behavior. WOPLAH provides condoms and other resources in order to encourage healthy behavior changes. Through community dialogues and peer education, WOPLAH hopes to empower individuals to overcome stigma, self-hatred, shame, and guilt connected to a positive HIV/AIDS diagnosis. Additionally, WOPLAH intends to promote economic empowerment among the LGBTQ+ community through income-generating activities and education on saving culture. Through sustainable income, HIV/AIDS positive individuals will be better able to access antiretroviral medications, healthy diets, and education.
Objectives
The Future
WOPLAH envisions a healthy society where everyone, regardless of identity, has access to HIV treatments. WOPLAH will work to reduce stigma against LGBTQ+ identifying individuals and individuals with a positive HIV/AIDS diagnosis in order to prevent the spread of HIV within our communities. Additionally, WOPLAH will establish a safe space and drop in centres for LGBTQ+ identifying individuals. WOPLAH’s current goal is to be able to impact 4,000 beneficiaries within the LGBTQ+ community. In the near future, WOPLAH also hopes to promote household income sustainability for beneficiaries and develop a memory book to trace the spread of HIV within this community and children. WOPLAH plans to continue using the peer education model to spread awareness of our programs and to reach our goal number of beneficiaries.
The Future
