Yunnan Cross Border Project

The first HAARP Cross Border Project was awarded to Yunnan Provincial HIV/AIDS Prevention & Control Bureau (YNAB). The contract was signed in November 2009 and activities began in January 2010.

Background
Located in the southwest of China, Yunnan shares over 4,000km of international border with Burma (Myanmar), Laos and Vietnam. It is estimated that there are some 23,000 drug users along international border areas in Yunnan, accounting for 27.1% of the total number of drug users throughout the entire province. Harm reduction activities have already taken place along the Yunnan border, with some success.

• Through HAARP an initial mechanism for cross-border cooperation has been established, regular meetings have taken place with Vietnam, and a HAARP Myanmar study tour visited three border counties in Yunnan which are in need of harm reduction services.
• Four Yunnan border counties have been incorporated in planning for HAARP harm-reduction activities. However, in these areas, interventions for IDUs and their sexual partners remain limited to the Chinese side of the border.
• Yunnan's health sector has taken advantage of existing good relations with the police to advocate harm reduction throughout the province, as well as reaching out to high-level narcotic control policemen in neighbouring countries. However cooperation with border police has yet to include more comprehensive harm reduction intervention approaches.

Although Yunnan is actively working to promote cross-border cooperation, interventions for IDUs and their sexual partners do not yet meet the high needs in the area.

Scaling up cross border activities
Four Yunnan sites have been selected as effective approach project (EAP) sites, all of which are HAARP China Country Program (CP) EAP sites. All four sites have established cross-border cooperation mechanisms within the past year. Longchuan-Rigan; Nabang-Laisa, Kachin State; and Ruili-Muse are located on the Myanmar border, while Hekou-Laokai borders with Vietnam.

The Yunnan cross-border project has three key objectives:

1. Establish substantial cooperation and coordination mechanism between HAARP counties, enabling them to respond to HIV risks among IDUs in border areas - including two-way study tours and community advocacy against IDU discrimination.
2. Respond to HIV among IDUs on both sides of the border through capacity-building, technical support and IEC development, and provide comprehensive and quality harm-reduction services for IDUs - comprising needle exchange services and annual peer education training for 200 IDUs in Ruili, Burma (Myanmar).
3. Support innovative cross-border programs and enhance current limited experience and knowledge of effective cross-border programming - with a main focus on HIV incidence research among IDUs.