Tunisia

Key Results

A pilot for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) targeting men who have sex with me was implemented.
All people diagnosed with HIV in 2022 were enrolled on Dolutegravir-based ART.
National drug prevention and harm reduction strategy operationalized, integrating Opioid Agonist Therapy for first time.

Joint Programme Results

In Tunisia, the Joint Team reinforced the Government’s efforts in scaling up HIV prevention, testing, and treatment services. A pilot pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) targeting 50 men who have sex with men was implemented at the University Hospital of Monastir through technical support and capacity building of healthcare providers. Community health workers were trained, and a reference guide was developed to support community-led HIV testing programmes (WHO, UNAIDS Secretariat).

A community-led survey on the availability, accessibility and acceptability of condoms and lubricants among men who have sex with men generated evidence on the necessity to better meet the needs of this community regarding quality of and access to condoms. The National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan 2021-2025 review process and the Global Fund grant proposal will integrate this as a priority (UNAIDS Secretariat).

All people diagnosed with HIV in 2022 were enrolled on Dolutegravir-based antiretroviral treatment and the transitioning of the people already on treatment to follow the latest WHO recommendation has commenced (WHO, UNAIDS Secretariat).

Under the leadership and in presence of the Minister of Health, decision-makers from the Ministry of Health and other relevant stakeholders from the Ministries of Social affairs, Justice and Health as well as civil society groups and community members were oriented on international standards for harm reduction programmes, including Opioid Agonist Therapy (OAT). Subsequently, the Joint Team supported operationalization of the national drug prevention and harm reduction strategy, integrating OAT for the first time (UNODC, UNAIDS Secretariat).

To support the review of National HIV/AID Strategic Plan (NSP) 2021-2025 and development of the Global Fund grant proposal for 2024-2026, the Joint Team facilitated dialogues with people living with HIV and key populations, generating critical information, including service needs, treatment gaps and bottlenecks, feedback from ongoing community-led monitoring, proposals for fast tracking various programmes. The dialogues further presented opportunities for understanding new practices among men who have sex with men that present increased HIV risks, such as chemsex (UNAIDS Secretariat). Finally, the Joint Team supported the NSP process in preparing the social contract guidelines (final document in Q1 2023) to be used in securing domestic funding for One-stop centres and communities when negotiating the Ministry of Health’s 2024 budget (UNDP).