The Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre and U.S. development partners have opened the first transgender-specific center to offer services to the transgender community in Asia.           

The Tangerine Community Health Center is supported under Inform Asia: USAID’s Health Research Program, with funding from the United States Agency for International Development under the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and implemented by RTI International and partners. It sets out to become a model for quality health services and research on transgender health.           

"The Tangerine Center will provide friendly, needed services to the transgender community locally, while leading the region in identifying and sharing models to improve healthcare access and quality among transgender people," said U.S. Ambassador Glyn T. Davies at a ceremony on Friday. "These efforts will be critical to achieving an end to AIDS, but will also contribute to a much broader agenda to promote the health and rights of transgender people."

Current social, economic, cultural, and legal frameworks, as well as health policies, inadequately address gender sensitivity and transgender identity. The health disparities faced by transgender people lead to issues such as misuse of hormones for gender-affirmation, vulnerability to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, and stigma and discrimination.           

"This is an immense step for Thailand and the region regarding the mobilization and advocacy for transgender health," said Ms. Nicha Rongram, communications director at the Thai Transgender Alliance for Human Rights.           

The Tangerine Center’s services include psychosocial counseling, hormone administration and pap smears. The center, managed by trained transgender personnel and gender-sensitive medical professionals, is open Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The center is located on the first floor of the Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre in Bangkok.           

"At the Thai Red Cross Tangerine Community Health Center, we are committed to provide the highest attainable standard of health in an affordable and accessible manner for all transgender people with respect to their rights to health and human dignity," said Professor Emeritus Praphan Phanuphak, director of the Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre.           

See photos of the opening here: https://flic.kr/s/aHskpZLu7h