HIV Prevention and Health Promotion

HIV prevention and health promotion programmes in Hong Kong are underpinned by the concerted efforts of the Government as well as non-governmental organisations. The Government has implemented various HIV prevention programmes in different settings targeting priority groups with a view to reducing HIV transmission. The highest priority community groups of HIV prevention are Men who have sex with men (MSM), Transgender women (TGW) and sex workers. Some groups are in particular settings which require cooperation between different government units, examples are students, persons in custody, people who inject drug and patient having sexually transmitted infections.

The Red Ribbon Centre is a community-based AIDS education, resource and research centre under the government. The Centre incorporates a collaborative approach to partner with the community and to support community-based initiatives. The main activity areas include promotion of awareness of HIV and acceptance of people living with HIV, targeted intervention and capacity building.

The first local Government HIV prevention media programme was organised in 1986 by an inter-departmental education and publicity committee, of which the Information Services Department (ISD) was represented. Since then, ISD has been assisting the Government with media publicity. This link will open in a new windowAnnouncements in the Public Interest (APIs) were produced regularly for broadcast on TV and radio to drive home the AIDS prevention message.

A number of AIDS non-governmental organisations have contributed to the HIV prevention work locally. They have been playing an active role in complementing the government’s efforts. The Hong Kong Coalition of AIDS Services Organizations (HKCASO) is a local network of community based AIDS service organisations, which serves to liaise with other community and institutional based organisations and to strengthen the capacity of member organisations to respond to HIV/AIDS.

The This link will open in a new windowcommunity events on HIV prevention and care is an initiative by the Red Ribbon Centre, which helps to publicize AIDS related activities in the community. Information on activities is submitted and published by the responsible organisations conducting HIV programmes in Hong Kong.