The Mother Mentor program aims to strengthen HIV health literacy of pregnant women and mothers, strengthen their linkages to health services, and create peer support systems by empowering women living with HIV to become ‘Mentor Mother’ peer leaders.

Under the program, Mentor Mothers co-designed a Mentor Mother Toolkit with ASHM and the Burnet Institute, alongside program partners the Papua New Guinea National Department of Health and Igat Hope.

Each kit contains resources to support Mentor Mothers to feel confident having conversations with women living with HIV about important measures to prevent transmission to their infants— such as adhering to ART treatment throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding and encouraging supervised birth at a medical facility.

Whilst there have been positive shifts globally to enable greater access to trans services, barriers to healthcare still exist for transgender people in many countries in Asia and Pacific countries.

In 2022, ASHM facilitated the 1st Transgender Comprehensive Care Masterclass in Thailand, facilitating an inaugural platform for knowledge exchange and sharing of best practice in trans-competent care amongst participants from across the region.

In collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO), ASHM conducted a comprehensive landscape review of sexually transmitted infections in the Western Pacific Region for the purpose of gaining a greater understanding of the magnitude and nature of STIs across the region.

Findings from the review highlight the need for further investment in up-to-date STI surveillance data, investment in STI prevention, diagnosis and treatment technologies, investment in capacity strengthening of health workers, and the need to expand stakeholder and expert consultation to support and develop targeted solutions for STI prevention and elimination.