HIV Epidemic Development in Taiwan

By December 31, 2014, the total number of HIV cases was 29,665; 93.66% are male and 6.34% are female. The new cases in 2014 were 2,236, which accounted for the third highest record. One of the major risk factors for transmission in 2014 was MSM (man who have sex with man), 1,637 within were new cases, slightly reduced compared to last year. The government provides Methadone treatment and free syringe as harm reduction strategies, and was successfully lowered the new IDU (Intravenous Drug Users) cases to 52 in 2014. Compared to 2013, other than the IDU cases, all the statistics above decreased, and the new cases hit the 4th record high in the Taiwan epidemic history.

94.68% of the HIV/AIDS population is between 15-49 years of age. The people infected with HIV/AIDS are getting younger and the main risk factor is through unsafe sex. It is important that the HIV/AIDS prevention educations should start early in school. The Ministry of Education must include AIDS education in students' textbook.

1. Origin and Mission

Taiwan Lourdes Association is established by the Daughters of Charity in 1960s,first known as "Lourdes Home", and is dedicated in caring for the orphans and disadvantaged children. In 1997, we saw a massive influence of HIV/AIDS toward infected people and their families. "Lourdes Home" decided to switch its focus on the HIV/AIDS agenda, and officially registered as a NGO in 2006.

1.1. Mission

Taiwan Lourdes Association is a non-profit organization. Due to the call of the gospel and based on the principles of justice and love, we provide diverse and broad services for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in order to improve their quality of life.

1.2. Objectives

Provide Community-Based Services to Improve the Quality of Life of PLWHA.

Campaign for the Human Rights of PLWHA.

Educate the General Public to Understand the Impact of HIV and AIDS on Individuals and Break off the Prejudice, Stigma and Discrimination.

2. Highlights of Activities

Since its establishment in 1997, we celebrate the 18th year of Taiwan Lourdes Association this year. The activities of this year can be divided into four directions:

2.1. Stability

We have a stable number of newly opened multiple-need cases. Although the number of cases of Taichung office slightly decreased, continuous service remained stable. According to the outcome from last three years, multi-year and extended services due to multiple needs continue to increase. A more efficient approach to combines resources of all sectors should work out in the future. The general human resources also remained stable. Only a few of living care peers were transferred between Taichung and Taipei offices, and there wasn't any impact on relative service.

2.2. Development

As for the Health Management APP, we updated the Android-based version and launched iOS-based version, by including user's experience to meet their needs closely. We worked tightly with other AIDS activist organizations and successfully amended the AIDS regulations in Taiwan. The amendment was implemented in February 2015. Lourdes Fans Radio merged the "Pilipala Boom" radio, operated by Positive League, and became Plus Radio in 2014. Apart pursuing the "The Living Situation of PWLHA in Taiwan" survey, we also launched new surveys on public attitude and on HIV physician / patient relationship in order to draw a more thorough face of HIV/AIDS in Taiwan.

2.3. Growth

Lourdes Transition Farm and virtual e-service continue to develop. After diverse social skill training, our participants now become staffs. The production and sales outcome both increased. To catch up the trend of the society, we launched one-to-one and group chat services using popular LINE app. This service is welcomed by the community and is continuing to evolve and innovate. The HIV test service seeks an increase in topics, clients, as well as in female clients. The Night Counseling service has an increase over entire client counseling service by 10%, consequently, we plan to extend peer service to nighttime in order to meet the demand. 

2.4. Cultivation

Given that the aging topic has gained increasing attention; we organized to focus on groups and symposiums for middle-aged and elder PLWHA. We also published handbooks for this population, by combining researched literatures and practice. We will continue to get deeper insight on these topics in 2015 and start a pilot long-term care service in Taichung office. On recreational drug issues, the Harm Reduction Support Groups continue to run on a weekly basis. We successfully depicted the ecology of the community, collected issues, and provided appropriate assistance. Due to its success, we were invited by National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) and public Drug Abuse Prevention centers to share our experiences either on their workshops or as trainers.

2.5. Table of Highlighted Outcomes

2.6. Publications  

We published 17 brochures, guidelines and reports, all of them are updated this year.

3. Internet Outreach : Website and Facebook Outreach

3.1. Analysis for website use

127,213 people visited our website and pages viewer (browsing rate) reached 621,921. New visitors continue to increase. The growing number of visitors from Chungli and Taoyuan shows the efficiency of our service in Taoyuan. With the popularity of smart phones, the development of a mobile version of our website is necessary. The five mostly viewed pages are Homepage, Anonymous test sites list, Forum, Plus radio portal page, About HIV/AIDS.

3.2. Analysis for Facebook use

421,358 people visited our Facebook page and pages viewer (browsing rate) reached 1,187,448. Our Facebook page provides HIV/AIDS information, preventive messages and general life information. We are also entrusted by the Public health department of New Taipei City to maintain the Facebook page of Happy Bus 192-1, a project that will continue in 2015.

4. Research and development

4.1. Lourdes Health Management APP 

We developed the first Android-based Health Management APP in Asia and received an enthusiastic ovation. We counted more than 3000 downloads, due to the success of Android-based version, we launched the first iOS-based version in March 2014 and updated the Android-based version at the same time.

5. International Exchange and Research Activities

5.1. Helpers Training and Empowerment for PLWHA

We set up three models of case management and implemented software system at Caritas Shengjing Social Center of Liaoning in Shenyang. The three-year partner and family therapy workshop in Xian, also came to term and qualified several family workers. Huang Hao-Jie from Wuhan and Lin Xiao from the Home Of Red Ribbon of Beijing came to Taiwan in June, for a two-week courses on HIV/AIDS community care and harm reduction awareness-empowering. We also send a delegation to Hong Kong in August to visit HKCS PS33 drug abuse rehabilitation center. In September, we, together with Taiwan International Media and Education Association (TIMEA) and Positive League, invited the famous American HIV/AIDS-LGBT rights activist Peter Staley to meet up with Taiwanese PLWHA community.

5.2. International Conferences 

In June, Paul Hsu, the executive director, and Howard Chiu, international coordinator, participated in the 14th WorldPride Human Rights Conference in Canada. During this event gathering more than 500 participants from 52 countries all over the world, they presented the experience of our Drop-in Friendship Center in Taichung under the title "LGBT Health Culture Community Center of Central Taiwan Establishment Experience". In November, Paul Hsu and Jiachyi Yang participated in the 3rd Mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Summit on HIV/AIDS. During this event, Paul Hsu directed a HIV/AIDS case caring workshop and gave a speech on the anti-discrimination strategy in medical field.

6.Events and Prizes

6.1. Major events