Peer services were welcomed and valued as a trusted way to receive care and build community
TGW welcomed the novelty of peer services, which were unavailable to the general population. They valued peer support because it extended beyond delivering HIV prevention commodities to caring for their health and wellbeing. Peer counselling motivated TGW to take PrEP to demonstrate good adherence at the next peer visit. Self‐collection of samples was valued in a setting where STI testing was not routine outside research studies, and self‐sampling was unavailable to the public.

Some TGW were initially hesitant about trusting the peer delivery system, particularly the ability of peers to keep personal health information confidential. The success of the peer delivery model depended on building trust between peer and client. Once peers were found trustworthy, participants gradually felt comfortable dealing with them and receiving the services they provided. As explained by one TGW: “With time, we got to understand each other, build the trust.” The peer delivery experience was viewed positively by TGW because it provided psychosocial support and facilitated access to HIV/STI care.

Peers observed that study participants reached out to TGW not involved in the study or engaged in care and taught them how to self‐test. Those interested in taking PrEP were introduced to the peers. This outreach had broader unanticipated benefits to the community, for example a sense of solidarity and oneness, that extended beyond the provision of HIV prevention commodities and psychosocial support to individuals under their care.

