The National Institutes of Health is spending nearly $400,000 studying transwomen in Uganda.

A new grant worth $163,996 was awarded just six days into the Trump administration, continuing a project that was initially awarded in April 2016.

Leading researchers on the project say it is “problematic” that there is an “almost complete lack of research examining the HIV risk of sexual minority women and transgender people” in the African country.

“HIV/AIDS is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality in Uganda, with an estimated 7.3 [percent] adults HIV Positive,” according to the grant for the study. “[M]en who have sex with men (MSM) bear a particularly high disease burden, with 13.2 [percent] living with HIV. Despite this increased risk, there is a considerable dearth of scientific literature documenting the barriers and facilitators to behavior change in this vulnerable Population. We need to better understand the HIV risk and protective behaviors of MSM and other sexual minority men in Uganda, if we are to develop effective Prevention programming.”

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