TY - JOUR T1 - Getting to the First 90: Incentivized Peer Mobilizers Promote HIV Testing Services to Men Who Have Sex With Men Using Social Media in Mumbai, India JF - Global Health: Science and Practice JO - GLOB HEALTH SCI PRACT SP - 469 LP - 477 DO - 10.9745/GHSP-D-19-00094 VL - 7 IS - 3 AU - Anjana Das AU - Bitra George AU - Virupax Ranebennur AU - M. R. Parthasarathy AU - G. S. Shreenivas AU - Priyamvada Todankar AU - Amit Shrivastav AU - Ajay Kumar Reddy AU - Christopher Akolo AU - Michael Cassell AU - Sandeep Mane AU - Deepak Tripathi AU - Jiban Baishya Y1 - 2019/09/23 UR - http://www.ghspjournal.org/content/7/3/469.abstract N2 - This peer mobilization pilot for HIV and syphilis testing used messaging on gay dating sites, clinic referrals, and peer recruitment to reach men who have sex with men in Mumbai. In 6 months, the pilot reached a relatively modest 247 individuals, 244 of whom had never tested for HIV. Challenges included low recruitment and loss to follow-up for posttest counseling and treatment initiation for individuals with HIV.Recent studies of Indian men who have sex with men (MSM) have shown widespread use of social media for seeking sex partners. We piloted a peer mobilization approach to explore the feasibility of engaging previously unreached MSM online to link them to HIV testing services (HTS). MSM were encouraged to seek HTS through messages posted on a popular dating website. Those who visited the designated HTS site and tested for HIV were recruited as peer mobilizers and given coupons with unique identifying codes to distribute to other men in their virtual networks. If a network member presented at the site with a coupon and tested for HIV, the peer mobilizer was given a small monetary incentive. Network members presenting at the testing site were also recruited as peer mobilizers and given coupons. In a 6-month period, 247 MSM were recruited and tested for HIV and syphilis, of whom 244 (99%) were first-time testers. Two-thirds were less than 25 years old and about half reported inconsistent or no condom use during the last 10 anal sex acts. Eight individuals (3.2%) tested positive for HIV, and 22 (8.9%) had a high titer for syphilis; all were referred to tertiary hospitals for treatment. Our approach was modestly successful in reaching and providing HTS to previously unreached MSM, but challenges included lower-than-expected recruitment, individuals not returning for posttest counseling, and loss to follow-up of individuals with HIV. The next phase of peer mobilization will aim to scale up these services through government-supported targeted interventions for this subpopulation of primarily young, unreached MSM at high risk. The challenges will be addressed by targeting more dating sites, increasing access to testing using rapid HIV tests at several community-based facilities, and offering peer navigation support for people living with HIV. ER -