Community-based Research:

Awareness and acceptance of U=U amongst East and Southeast Asian men who have sex with men

Co-Principal Investigator: Noulmook Sutdhibhasilp

Academic

Co-Principal Investigator: Nalini Mohabir

Co-Investigators: Kenneth Poon, Richard Utama, Ryan Tran

Research Coordinator: Michael Butac

Peer Research Assistant: Harny Chan Lim

Research Community Advisory: Robinson Truong, Oliver Lim, Liujia Tian Special thanks to Marcos Sanches, Faviola Fernandez, and Christian Hui

This one-year project is funded by Gilead Canada to Zero Research Grant. As little research has been done in Canada especially within racialized communities, this research project aims to study the awareness and acceptance of U=U (Undetectable=Untransmittable) amongst East and Southeast Asian men who have sex with men in Ontario. Delving deeper, it attempts to uncover the significant factors impacting awareness and acceptance of U=U.

Using the mixed methods, both quantitative and qualitative data collection, the research team conducted an online survey with 160 participants and 2 focus groups. Findings thus far reinforce the importance of education to better inform the public about U=U and addressing culture and stigmas. The research team will disseminate the knowledge by organizing a Slam Poetry event, producing factsheets on key messages, and publishing in a peer-reviewed academic journal and applying for a conference presentation at the Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS Research (CAHR) in April 2023.