Hong Kong's Gilead Sciences, Inc announced the launch of its 2021 Gilead Asia Pacific Rainbow Grant, an initiative that supports community-led programs for people living with HIV in the Asia Pacific region. Non-governmental or advocacy organizations are invited to submit their applications for 2021 funding online at www.gileadrainbowgrant.com starting from March 29, 2021. The submission deadline ends on 30 June 2021, 11:59pm GMT+8.

While our global community continues to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, HIV remains one of the world’s major public health challenges. According to the latest World AIDS Day report, 1.7 million people were newly infected with HIV in 2019 and 690,000 people died from HIV-related causes. In Asia, the impact of COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the delivery of HIV healthcare services, according to a recent pulse survey conducted by Gilead. In particular, disruption to services has impacted HIV testing amongst individuals who are at high risk for HIV as well as access to anti-HIV medications.

This year’s Asia Pacific Rainbow Grant follows the theme of “Building Back Better to End HIV”.  The grant seeks to address unmet needs in HIV care to improve the quality of life for those who are living with, or at risk of the condition by focusing on these three priority areas: 1) Innovation in Healthcare Service Provision; 2) Reducing Health Disparities; and 3) Research for Impact.

This year, Gilead has expanded the grant program to a total of 23 countries or territories in the region – more than doubling the geographic scope from when the program began in 2018. To date, the grant has awarded nearly US $3 million to organizations across Asia Pacific.

Together with 54 community organizations, the Gilead Asia Pacific Rainbow Grant has been able to reach, provide education or direct services, to more than 258,000 people through more than 60 projects.