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Focus 2005 October - December |
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---~~~~~~~T~H~EPI~P'-lln-l. --F8-0.-al'-ll.-,IF.I.ial-l -IIl-WSlE~T~T-E-II--~-----------'
The Population Foundation of
India, which is the Regional
Resource Centre (RRC) of the
Government of India for Chhattisgarh
and Bihar, in collaboration with the
Government of Bihar, organized a
two day thematic workshop on the
issue of 'Planned Parenthood' in
Patna on December 13 - 14, 2005.
The Health Minister of Bihar,
Mr. Chandra Mohan Rai, inaugurated
the workshop. While addressing the
inaugural function Mr. Rai said that
there is an urgent need to create a
proper environment in the health
sector, which had failed to deliver in
the last fifty years. He expressed the
hope that the PR would be successful
in improving the quality of Mother
NGOs (MNGOs), in terms of project
implementation and providing them
with the technical support to
implement population stabilization
Release of the RRC Newsletter 'Nayi Kiran', by Health Minister of Bihar,
Mr. Chandra Mohan Rai.
An adolescent participant speaking on the adolescent's role in
planned parenthood.
Planned Parenthood in Bihar - 1
NGOs in Uttaranchal join hands to stop
pre birth sex selection and elimination of
females - 3
Adolescent initiatives in Uttaranchal - 4
The Surya Clinic Network - Meeting the
unmet needs - 5
. The Regional Resource Centre's Activities - 5
Improving health through enterprise,
community participation and teamwork
in Orissa - 6
'UJAiA' plays second innings - 6
Advocacy initiatives on population and
development - 7
The PR Media Manual on HN / AIDS
Reporting - 8
An update on activities of the Global Fund
Round 4 Project "Access to care &
treatment" - 9
MiAs in Uttaranchal sensitized - 9
Empowering the Malto tribe in Jharkhand - 10
Population and Development - A project in
Rajasthan - 10
On World AIDS Day - 2005 - 11
From the Executive Director's Diary - 12
Forthcoming Events - 12
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Young people (in the age group of 10-24 years) constitute an
important part of the country's population in terms of size,
the amount of energy and enthusiasm, the number of productive
years they have to make a positive contribution to the nation's
development, to the social and political ambience of the country
and a lot more. Over the last decade there has been a growing
recognition that the needs of young people as reflected in various
national and international initiatives have to be taken into account.
It is also accepted that the voices and aspirations of the
adolescents / youth need to be heard and reflected in the design
and implementation of suitable policies and programmes to
ensure that strategies are sustainable in the long term perspective.
As youth have the potential to shape positively the future of the
country, it is important today, to explore strategies through which
young people's concerns and experiences can be shared. With
this objective in mind, a number of consortia and alliances and
networks have been formed by national and international
organizations. The Alliance of "Young People: Towards a Healthy
. Future" is one such initiative that endeavours to create an alliance
between policy makers, people who work with youth and young
people themselves to bring together diverse experiences from
across the country of lessons learnt in health, rights and
development. Some other alliances formed for youth are
the SRIJAN Network, the KIDAVARI Network, Bal Panchayats,
the Indian Committee of Youth Organizations and the Nehru
Yuva Kendra Sangathan of the Government of India.
The Alliance of "Young People: Towards a Healthy Future" has
been able to create a vibrant network to address issues related to
young people. To give youth an open space to share experiences
and to provide them with useful information as well as to facilitate
communication amongst themselves, a website called 'Yuvamaitri'
has been developed. The open space can be visited at
www.yuvamaitri.net. Consultations at the state and national levels
have been organized by the Alliance. These consultations brought
together multiple stakeholders and networks working for and
with young people. These included youth serving non
governmental organizations (NGOs) and community based
organizations (CBOs) from different geographical settings and
addressing different issues and representatives of the Central
and State Governments. The most important aspect of the
consultations was that young people themselves participated at
all the forums sharing their perspectives and concerns on issues
related to their health and well being.
A number of promising practices that relate to the needs,
aspirations and rights of young people were described at the
consultations. It is a pity that these promising practices have so
far not been adequately documented or rigorously addressed.
In the absence of documentation, it is not feasible to replicate
and scale up such practices. Time has come to build on the
evidence base of these promising practices and use this for
programmes and policies for youth. A promising practice can
be anything that works, in full or in part, and that can be useful
in providing lessons learnt. They can be termed 'success stories'.
One document containing all the available information on
promising practices by young people all over the country would
be an invaluable reference manual for policy makers and all those
working with and for youth.
fOcus
measures. He mentioned that it was heartening to
know that prestigious NGOs like PFI had been
selected to be the RRC for Bihar and Chhattisgarh.
He also mentioned that there has been no
commitment in Bihar on the issue of population
and planned parenthood till now, but that he is sure
that this will change with the new government.
He assured the participants that the Government
would fulfill it's commitment of improving the health
system in Bihar and would provide all possible
support to organizations like the Population
Foundation of India, towards building a positive
GO-NGO partnership in order to improve the health
indicators of Bihar.
Mr. A.R. Nanda, Executive Director, Population
Foundation of India, spoke of the need for planned
parenthood. He highlighted that now it had become
mandatory for the state to tone up the primary
health care system for population stabilization.
He added that the PH would continue to provide
technical support and act as a facilitating agency
and a bridge between the Government and the
NGOs. Dr. P.c. Das, Assistant Commissioner,
NGO Division, Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare, Government of India spoke about the
critical health indicators of Bihar such as Infant
Mortality Rate (IMR), Maternal Mortality Ratio
(MMR) and contraceptive use amongst women.
He also spoke about access to sub-centre and
primary health centre services. He mentioned that
all the figures for these indicators were deplorable
in Bihar and that there is a need for health to
become a public mandate, as it is virtually impossible
for the Government to reach out to the 'unserved'
and the 'underserved' areas. It would be important
to develop strategic and effective partnerships
between the Government and NGOs and a strong
mandate for better coordination between them to
effectively extend services to the remote areas.
Mr. Lester Countinho, Country Programme Advisor,
Packard Foundation, informed the participants that
the Packard Foundation has a long term
commitment to working in Bihar. He said that
international donors like the Packard Foundation
and others are happy to see that the Government
has come forward to work with committed NGOs
within an environment of good governance. Other
participants at the workshop included the
Director, Health Services, Government of Bihar,
representatives of MNGOs and national and
international NGOs. Some of the promising
practices from within the state were presented and
small group discussions were held on how the issue
could be taken forward in the state. As a follow up,
regional workshops on the issue of planned
parenthood would be held all over the state.
The first issue of the RRC newsletter titled
'Nayi Kiran' was released at the workshop.
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NODsin unaranchal join hands to stop pre birth sex selection
and elimination ollemales
Discrimination against women
exists and has always existed in
every sphere and strata of society.
This discrimination however manifests
itself in an extremely grotesque and
violent form when the female is
eliminated either before or after she
is born, just because of her gender.
To sensitize society at large on the
issue of declining Child Sex Ratio
(CSR) and create a positive
environment towards the rights of the
girlchild for survivaland development,
PH has been conducting workshops
for different segments of the
population in different states of the
country. A workshop on sex selection
and pre-birth elimination of females
was organized for the corporate
sector of Uttaranchal at Dehradun in
September 2005 and a similar kind
of a workshop for the Members of
the Legislative Assembly of the
Uttaranchal State Assembly in
October 2005. Uttaranchal has the
seventh lowest CSR, according to the
Census 2001 and as compared to the
previous census; there has been a
decline of 41 points. SHARNUM, a
voluntary organization based at
Dehradun, requested PH to hold a
workshop involving the NGO sector
in Uttaranchal. A workshop was held
on November 24,2005 at Dehradun,
at which heads of 50 NGOs
participated. The Hon'ble Minister
for Transport, Government of
Uttaranchal, Mr. Hira Singh Bisht,
was the Chief Guest at the workshop.
Ms. A.Banerji, who was the resource
person from PFI, presented an
overview of the activities, related to
the issue, carried out by PH over the
last two years and a situational
analysis of the Child Sex Ratio in
The Inauguration of the workshop. (from left to right) MLA from Sri nagar,
Uttaranchal, Chief Guest Mr. Hira Singh Bisht, Director, State Institute of Soil
Conservation, Mr. Soloman Prakash, Chief Functionary, SHARNUM.
Uttaranchal. This was followed by the
address by the Chief Guest and then
a presentation on the 'Loopholes of
the PNDT Act' by Ms.Gita Balodi of
Kanya Jeevan Dayini Samiti, an
NGO dedicated to the cause of
prevention of female foeticide.
Dr. Sushma Dutta, State Immu-
nisation Officer, Dr. Nasreen Fatima,
District Homoeopathy Officer,
Ms Rashi Rawat, a student at a
women's college in Dehradun,
Dr.Asha Mathur, Chairperson, PNDT
Commission, Dehradun Women's
Hospital, Ms.Uma Prakash, State
Coordinator, MOST, Mr. Soloman
Prakash, Chief Functionary,
SHARNUM and persons from the
media were some of the other
participants at the workshop.
Interactive discussions brought
forth some recommendations -
i. awareness at the grassroots level;
ii. advocacy meetings of participants
at regular intervals to share
information and experiences on
activities undertaken by them since
,the previous meeting;
111. prOVISIOn of appreciation/
incentive for achievers;
iv. advocacy of the success stories;
v. 'Saas Ma Sammelans' and
advocacy workshops with religious
leaders at the community level. A
pledge to work sincerely against
the elimination of the female child
before birth marked the conclusion
of a highly interactive workshop.
Did you know?
Q. While there is no ideal contraceptive method mix,
it is a concern that in many countries contraceptive
use is dominated by one or two methods. However,
one country has a method mix that is remarkably
balanced in that the 5 leading methods (as of 2004)
are quite close, as follows:
Oral contraceptive - 15.0%
Condom - 11.9%
IUD-ll.5%
Female Sterilization - 11.5%
Injection - 10.4%
Can you name the country?
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Adolescent initiatives in unaranchal
fOcus
The Rural Development Institute
(ROO at the Himalayan Institute
Hospital Trust (HIHT), Dehradun,
Uttaranchal, is implementing a
project on Adolescent Initiatives with
the support of the Population
Foundation of India and the Sir
Dorabji Tata Trust. The project
involves 32,700 adolescents from
three blocks in three districts in
Uttaranchal, which represent the
diverse topography of the state, which
has a mix of hilly and plain regions.
The project is being implemented as
an Operations Research case control
study model. The main objectives of
the project are to impact knowledge,
attitude and practices amongst
adolescents on reproductive and
sexual health, to enhance general and
reproductive health of adolescents in
the age group of 13 to 19 years, to
promote safe sexual behaviour and
lifestyle amongst adolescents to
enhance adolescent maternal health
amongst married adolescents in the
age group of 13 to 19 years and to
promote career and development
opportunities for adolescents in the
project areas.
The field intervention titled 'PEHAL'
is being implemented by four NGOs
- the HIHT in Sahaspur block of
Dehradun district, VTTDS and
Aastha in Jaspur block of Udham
Singh Nagar district, and CHIRAG in
Ramgarh block of Nainital district -
with technical support from HIHT.
In the project, a baseline study and
evolution of a detailed imple-
mentation plan (DIP) was done.
A good amount of Behaviour Change
Communication (BCC) materials on
RCH issues such as calendars, posters
and street plays in audio-visual form
have been developed. An anthem and
a website on Adolescent Initiatives in
Uttaranchal have been developed as
part of the activities associated with
the project.
The field trainers of the implementing
agencies were trained by the HIHT
for the use of the 'PEHAL KIT' and
they in turn trained the adolescent
volunteers and the village level
committees. Adolescent Resource
Centres (ARCs)have been established
by the NGOs at the district level.
An Adolescent Vocational Cell has
been established at the HIHT for
outlining the career development
prospects of youth in Uttaranchal.
A career development reference
directory has been brought out and
career fairs have been organized at
schools. Clinical services are delivered
to adolescents through camps.
A mid term review carried out recently
brought out some recommendations,
the most important among them
being (i) to strengthen the
documentation skills of NGOs; (ii)to
improve the ARC services in terms
of quality, choices and participation
of adolescents; (iii)to strengthen the
existing Village Health Committees
and Adolescent Committees; (iv) to
make the script of the BCC more
interesting and more focused on the
objectives of the project and the needs
of the local community; (v)to address
the problem of waste disposal
and management in the clinics;
(vi) to pay more attention to the
quality of services; and (vii)to organize
the training sessions in a better
way and improve the facilitation
skills of trainers through re-
sensitization.
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The Surva Clinic Network- eeting the unmet needs
Janani is an affiliate of DKT - International, (a charitable
organization, which has its headquarters in
Washington). It implements a large service delivery
programme in three states - Bihar, Jharkhand and Madhya
Pradesh. It is a partner organization of the Population
Foundation of India in three districts of Bihar - Gaya,
Purnia and Motihari. The programme is based on the
premise that one of the effective ways to supplement the
public sector in scale and impact is the involvement of the
private sector. In fact, Janani strives to provide quality
reproductive health services, especially in the area of family
planning, to those who have no access to care. The key
strategy involves subsidizing products and services to make
them affordable to the middle class and the poorer segment
of the population and generating a large demand through
aggressive marketing. Under the Janani programme, the
Surya Clinic Network also serves as a referral centre to
generate caseloads that are used to train private doctors
from interior towns. The Network provides an outpatient
basis treatment for reproductive tract infections/sexually
transmitted infections, clinical contraceptive services like
intrauterine devices, sterilization procedures and safe
abortions. The basic idea behind the creation of the Surya
Clinic Network is to make clinical family planning services
easily available and accessible.
The Surya Clinic Network of Janani comprises two types
of clinics - the Franchisee Surya clinics and the Janani
owned Surya clinics. The Franchisee Surya clinics are
private clinics, which are willing to follow the norms set
by Janani by paying an annual membership fee and in
turn receiving training in a range of services, and protocols
that would enable them to provide quality care, which
would increase their caseload. The clinics for which Janani
bears the costs totally are called the Janani-owned clinics.
The Population Foundation of India has supported three
Janani- owned clinics - one in each of the three districts -
Gaya, Purnia and Motihari.
As a phase out strategy for the Janani owned clinics, it is
felt that once the clinics are well established, long term
partnerships with doctors or entrepreneurs could be
worked out. The partnership could be with doctors who
could contribute to part of the infrastructural costs, which
could be returned when the clinic recovers the full costs.
The doctor could then run the clinic as
a franchisee according to the standard
franchisee contract of Janani. One
such example is Dr.Nishant Sinha, who
has entered into a partnership with
Janani. A qualified doctor with a
postgraduate medical degree from
Moscow, Dr.5inha has invested money
in the PH supported clinic at Gaya and
occasionally provides clinical services
at this centre. He has also worked for
Dr. Nishant Sinha,
Gaya Surya Clinic
partner
two years as a technical trainer for Janani to train its rural
network. Having completed a course in Hospital and Health
Management and a postgraduate diploma course in medico
-legal systems, he is now pursuing a postgraduate diploma
course in Maternal and Child Health. Dr.Sinha is convinced
that a Surya Clinic is the best option for providing quality
clinical services at an affordable cost, while providing a
stable future for the clinics.
In places where a doctor is not
interested in entering into a business
partnership, Janani enters into a tie
up with a local entrepreneur who
invests in the establishment of the
clinic and also takes on the
responsibility of bringing in a qualified
doctor to run the clinic after being
trained by Janani. When the clinic is
fully taken over by the local
entrepreneurs, Janani enters into the
Mr. Himanshu Shekhar,
Pumia Surya Clinic
partner
Franchisee agreement with them. One such person, young
and enterprising, is Mr.Himanshu Shekhar, who has
become the partner for the Surya clinic at Purnia, which is
supported by the Population Foundation of India.
Mr. Shekhar has a graduate degree in Chemistry and two
year's experience in wholesale marketing of medicine and
other related products. He feels that Janani has given him
a good opportunity to earn his livelihood while being of
service to society. He also feels that Janani's pricing
strategy is competitive, which helps the clients to get a
good deal and results in compelling other providers to make
drastic reductions in their prices. This is a refreshing and
positive change.
The Regional Resource Centre's Activities
ABaseline Survey (BLS) Data Processing Training workshop was organized by the Regional Resource Centre
(RRC), Chhattisgarh on November 19-21, 2005 at Jagdalpur, to facilitate understanding of the software data
package, develop skills for data entry and to train participants to analyze the BLS data emerging from the field.
Coordinators and data entry operators of MNGOs participated at the workshop.
The NGO Division of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, organized an experience
sharing workshop and review meeting from November 28 to December I, 2005, at New Delhi. The RRC coordinators
and Training Coordinators from both the states participated at the workshop and made a presentation on the
convergence of vertical national health programmes under the National Rural Health Mission in Chhattisgarh.
Dr.P.C.Das, Assistant Commissioner, NGO Division, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India,
made a special mention of the PFI-RRC efforts in the difficult states of Bihar and Chhattisgarh.
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Improving health through enterprise, community participation
and teamwork in Orissa
This is the story of a 58 year old
lady named Shanta Kumari, a
lady health volunteer, who retired
from the Health department,
Government of Orissa, in Koraput.
She has since been associated as a
health promoter in the remote areas
of Rayagada district of Orissa, with
an organization called the Adivasi
Krishi Swasthya Unnayan Samity
(AKSSUSj, which works at the
grassroots level. The organization is
working on health issues catering to
a population of 7861 across 40
villages in three Panchayats of Bissam
Cuttack block of Rayagada district.
The total number of children below
5 years of age is 982. Rayagada
district is one of the worst districts in
terms of Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)
and Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR),
in the state.
The Regional Training and Resource
Development Centre (RTRDC) is a
programme run by PH to build the
capacity of NGOs and thus create a
resource pool at the local level on
RCH issues. At the RTRDC
programme at Rayagada, conducted
by Agragamee, a partner agency of
PH, Ms. Shanta Kumari had been
trained as a Master Trainer.
Agragamee tapped her potential to
be a trainer in the area of
Reproductive and Child Health
(RCH), as she had the experience of
working in the Health department
and was familiar with RCH issues.
Ms.Shanta Kumari gradually built
up a team by training members
of AKSSUS who work at the
community level. Together with them,
she also trained Swasthya Sevikas,
Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs)
and Aanganwadi Workers (AWWs)of
forty villages. Even after the training
was over, she kept in touch with all
these people, which helped to
develop and consolidate the entire
team. This team was thus able to deal
more efficiently with identification of
mothers at risk, arrangements for
their referrals, monitoring of the
growth of children below the age of
5 years, distribution of medicines and
more awareness creation on health
and health related issues in the
community. Ms. Shanta Kumari and
her team made efforts to contact
pregnant women and generate more
awareness amongst them about safe
delivery, newborn care, Reproductory
Tract Infections(RTl), Sexually
Transmitted
Infections(STI),
immunization, breastfeeding and
methods of contraception. Her efforts
towards enhancing capacity building
and awareness in the community
resulted in members of the local
community demanding and expecting
better health services from the health
centres.This is certainly a step forward
towards progress. A comparative
analysis of facts and figures in terms
of indicators, like still births, infant
deaths and child deaths over the last
three years has shown a marked
improvement. Out of 192 live births,
infant deaths were 23 in 2003; out
of 165 live births infant deaths were
13 in 2004 and out of 193 livebirths,
infant deaths were 11 in 2005. Still
births have steadily come down from
Ms. Shonto Kumari, lady health
volunteer
5 in 2003 to 3 in 2004 and 2 in 2005
while child deaths (pertaining to
children in the age group of 13 to 60
months) have decreased from 12 in
2003 to 9 in 2004 and 3 in 2005.
Ms.Shanta Kumari's contribution to
this stupendous task of community
mobilization is indeed commendable.
She has proved to be a source of
inspiration to all those who are trying
to bring about improvement in health
conditions in remote tribal areas.
Various organizations, apart from
Agragamee, look upon her as a
resource person. She has participated
as a resource person in five
RTRDC training programmes of
Agragamee.We laud her for her work
and wish her all the very best in her
future endeavours.
'OJALA'plavs second innings
The Population Foundation of India (PH) in collaboration with Agragamee, a local non-governmental organization in
Rayagada district, in Orissa, had started a community radio programme titled Ujala, in the backward and tribal
districts of Orissa. The objective of the programme was to empower the community and the members of Panchayati
Raj on the issues of population, health and social development through community radio in areas, where the tribal
Desia-dialect is spoken. The 52-episode programme, which was launched in October 2004, came to an end in
November 2005. Encouraged by the overwhelming response to the programme received through letters from hundreds
of listeners, NGOs and appreciation conveyed through telephone calls, the PH decided to repeat the broadcast of the
radio programme. The Foundation is in the process of creating more listeners' clubs in new areas and involving the
network of local NGOs, Community Based Organizations and Self Help Groups. The number of clubs would be
increased from 150 to 250 while the membership of each club would be increased from 20 member5 to around
30 members.
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focus
Advocacv initiatives on population and development
As part of the PFI's advocacy
programme on population and
programmes, based on participatory
methods of discussion and opinion
development, supported by the building on critical issues related to
Packard Foundation, media population, reproductive health and
workshops have been organized in gender mainstreaming in population
Jamshedpur, Giridih and Dumka in and reproductive health programmes.
Jharkhand, and Nalanda, Bhagalpur The participants at each programme
and Muzaffarpur in Bihar. The media comprise senior government officials,
has a significant role in building primarily administrative officers,
perspectives and opinion related to from all states, in three batches. The
social development issues and first of the three programmes was
keeping this in mind, national and held from November 7-9, 2005,
local media in Bihar and Jharkhand at the NIAR campus in Mussoorie.
have been identified as an important Government
officials from
component of the advocacy
Uttaranchal, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana,
programme. The media initiative has
been taken up in partnership with the
Manthan Yuva Sansthan in Ranchi,
Jharkhand and the Bihar Voluntary
Health Association in Patna, Bihar.
The media workshops have
generated a lot of interest, particularly
amongst young journalists, reporters
and stringers from rural areas. The
aim of the workshops is to introduce
"Building Supportive Environment
for Population Stabilization by
Meeting Reproductive and Sexual
Health Needs of Young Adults
Through Advocacy Initiatives in Bihar
and Jharkhand: An Initial Step"
is a three-year programme in
Bihar and Jharkhand.
the subjects of population,
reproductive health and rights and
to build writing skills of the media.
At the end of the workshops,
participants come up with ready to
print articles written collectively.
Some of these articles have already
been brought out in mainstream
newspapers and local magazines.
Media kits are being prepared for the
two states. The kits provide a wide
range of information on the critical
population and health issues in India
and particularly in Jharkhand, the role
of the media in highlighting social
issues and the basics of writing on
development issues. A similar kind of
a kit is being prepared for Bihar.
The media kits for Jharkhand have
been published by Manthan Yuva
Sansthan. The state level
dissemination meetings are being
planned over the next four months.
Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and
Bihar participated at the programme,
at which there was good interaction
and active participation of the officials.
Presentations on some of the
successful programmes in their
respective states were made by
officials from Punjab, Bihar and
Jharkhand. The presentations also
provided an insight into the factors,
which facilitated and those that were
an impediment to the implementation
of population and reproductive health
programmes. Dr. Abhijit Das, Advisor,
Sahayog and Ms.Renu Khanna,
SAHAJ, supported the Population
Foundation of India in the
development of the design of the
programme as well as the resource
materials. Mr. D.S. Mathur, Director,
Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy of
Administration, Mussoorie, addressed
Another advocacy initiative on
Population and Development is an
orientation programme with senior
government officials. This is a
collaborative programme of the
Population Foundation of India
the participants and raised the critical
issues in population and development
in India. Dr. M.H. Khan, Director,
NIAR and Mr. K.J.R. Burman, faculty
I member of the Institute have been
instrumental in working out this
with the National Institute of collaborative endeavour with the
Administrative Research (NIAR), Population Foundation of India and
Mussoorie. The overall programme , in taking the agenda further within
comprises a total of three three-day f their Institute.
Supported by the Packard Foundation
the project on "Building Supportive
Environment for Population Stabili-
zation by Meeting Reproductive and
Sexual Health Needs of Young Adults
Through Advocacy Initiatives in Bihar
and Jharkhand: An Initial Step" is a
three-year programme in Bihar and
Jharkhand. The initiative focuses on
advocacy intervention
with
stakeholders through state level
sharing. To meet the reproductive and
sexual health needs of young adults,
advocacy kits have been prepared and
concept papers compiled on issues
that emerged during interaction and
other initiatives with young people in
the state. To facilitate the process,
sub-district level workshops involving
all stakeholders to share their findings,
were organized. Local NGOs were
also involved for information
gathering at the community level. The
aim of the pr~ject is primarily to
promote the participation of young
adults at the community level.
Additionally it also attempts to
provide inputs to both governmental
and non-governmental fora. The first
phase of the project began in
September 2003 covering Ranchi
and Hazaribagh districts of
Jharkhand. This phase was concluded
on March 30, 2004.
The second phase of the project
was started in Bihar in May, 2005.
The programme includes in it's
geographical range, 38 blocks in two
selected districts, with the help of the
local partners, followed by district
level workshops where a District Plan
of Action would be prepared.
Although the project started late due
to elections in the state, the project
team in Bihar is all set to compensate
for the delay. After finalizing the
partnerships with 16 NGOs in the
districts of Gaya and Vaishali in the
last quarter, the team organized an
orientation programme for the NGO
functionaries to collect feedback from
the community on issues related to
young adults. The information
collected in this way would be
shared by the NGOs at the block
level workshops. Four block level
workshops have been organized
so far.
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The PFI Media Manual on HIV/AIOS Reporting is released
The Population Foundation of
India has just brought out a media
manual titled, 'HN / AIDS In News:
Journalists as Catalysts.' The manual
was released by Dr Maxine Olson,
UNDP Country Representative, on
November 30,2005 at a National
Consultation held in Delhi.
The 162 page manual edited by
veteran journalist Usha Rai, is based
on a survey of newspapers in the
states of Karnataka, Punjab and Uttar
Pradesh and scanning of seven
national TV news channels. The
UNDP supported project was
necessitated by the fact that stigma
and discrimination associated with
HN / AIDS has not been eliminated
even though 19 years have lapsed
since the first case was identified in
India in Chennai in 1986.
Could news reporting on the issue
have been more sensitive to the
problems of HN positive people so
that they are not driven to suicide or
forced to hide their infection for fear
of reprisal and isolation? Could media
reports have dispelled the myths
surrounding the infection and the way
it is transmitted? These are some of
the important issues that the manual
seeks to answer.
A six-month media study by PFI
showed that there was a wide gap
between what the media has been
writing on HIV / AIDS and the
expectations of HN positive people
on what they perceive should be the
media's role in reporting on the issue.
Though there was considerable
coverage of HIV/ AIDS, most of it
comprised reporting of events or
statements by celebrities.
Divided into three sections, the
manual consists of the survey and
analysis of newspapers and TV
channels; articles by eminent
journalists and experts on the many
dimensions of the HIV epidemic; and
useful information on aspects such as
the ethics of reporting on the infection
as well as frequently asked question
and facts and myths on HIV.
The manual is meant to be used by
journalists, those involved in IEC at
NACO and the State AIDS Control
Societies, NGOs working on the issue
and by schools of journalism wanting
to conduct courses on HIV/ AIDS
reporting.
At the national consultation where the
Manual was released, it was discussed
how to take forward the PH project
that had begun in May 2005 to
examine the 'impact of media
coverage on stigma and
discrimination related to HIV/ AIDS.'
Dr. Maxine Olson, Country Representative, UNDp, releasing the publication
'HIV/AIDS in News: Journalists as Catalysts'.
Participants at the meeting included
senior journalists, members of the
Press Council of India, representatives
of HN positive networks of people
from across the country, NGOs
working in the field of HN / AIDS and
those representing commercial sex
workers and MSM, and members of
UNDP, UNAIDS and other UN
organizations. They looked at how
the rich material contained in the
Media Manual, the experience gained
from workshops held under the
project in various parts of the
country and the linkages established
with journalists and civil society
groups could be sustained and
strengthened.
Participants broke up into two
groups representing the Media and
Civil Society respectively. They then
came up with concrete suggestions
on improving news reporting on
the issue and the role of Civil
Society groups in working with the
media on this important health
concern.
For instance, it was recommended
that the 1993 Press Council
Guidelines on HN / AIDS reporting be
revised, as they advocate compulsory
screening of all sex workers and public
warnings about areas with high
concentration of HIV infection.
Appropriate, non-discriminatory
terminology for reporting on
HIV/ AIDS was also recommended,
as also how CivilSociety groups could
build their capacity to deal with the
media more effectively. Other
suggestions included closer
interaction of journalists with positive
people's networks, NGOs and State
AIDS Control Societies, methods to
minimize the impact of negative/
alarmist news stories on HIV, getting
media houses to evolve HIV/ AIDS
policies for employees, and more
hands-on workshops for sensitization
of journalists in smaller towns and
rural areas.
The host of ideas emanating from the
national consultation is being shared
with policy makers in the government
as well as other agencies working in
the field.
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An update on activities of the Global fund Round 4 Project
··Access to care & treatmenf'
The Global Fund Round 4 Project "Access to Care &
1 Treatment" is currently implementing the first phase
of the HN / AIDS project in the six high prevalence states
- Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka,
Manipur and Nagaland. The Project Advisory Board (PAS)
is the advisory body for the project. The first meeting of
the PAB was held in July 2005. The second meeting was
held in November 2005 to review the progress of the
project and to give the requisite guidance for further
implementation of the same. A state coordinators review
meeting was organized on November 21 - 24, 2005, to
share the update on the project in the six high prevalence
states where the project is being implemented. State
Coordination Committee meetings with the State AIDS
Control Societies (SACS) were held as also a Coordination
Committee with the National AIDS Control Organization
(NACO).
A total of 40 district level networks, 6 Treatment
Counselling Centres and one Positive Living Centre have
been established by the Indian Network for People Living
with HN/AIDS, by the end of December 2005. Three
workshops were conducted by Engender Health Society
to field test the module for Training of Trainers for master
peer educators. The participants at the workshops
comprised officers from the district level networks, who, it
is expected, would in turn train peer educators on treatment
adherence and education from the district level networks.
The Training of Trainers workshops were conducted in
regional languages - Marathi, Telegu, Tamil and Kannada.
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)is initiating the
process of setting up the first corporate sector health facility
which would provide services for antiretroviral
treatment(ART). An initial round of a feasibility study for a
'Health Smart Card' has been carried out at the Indian
Spinal Injury Centre at New Delhi, A pilot study to assess
the operational feasibility of the Health Smart Card has
begun at the ART roll out centre at the Ram Manohar
Lohia Hospital (RML),New Delhi, on December 12, 2005.
Members of the Legislative Assembly play an important
role in India's development process. Regular
interaction with people of their constituencies and
awareness of the socio-cultural ethos empowers them to
be effective agents of change. Their role in development
programmes related to social issues is of great importance.
The Population Foundation of India, with the support of
Plan International, India has been conducting advocacy
workshops on sex selection and pre-birth elimination of
females for the corporate sector, MLAs and other segments
of the population. The MLAs of Uttaranchal were invited
to participate at an advocacy workshop at Dehradun on
October 20, 2005. Senior officials from the State
Government, persons from the media and representatives
from a few NGOs also participated at the workshop.
Dr. Almas Ali, Senior Advisor, PFI made a brief
presentation on the present demographic scenario
regarding the Child Sex Ratio (CSR) in Uttaranchal. The
presentation highlighted some of the factors responsible
for the declining CSR in the age group of 0-6 years, in the
different states in the country and the important role the
elected representatives can play in eradicating this evil
practice. Ms Geeta Balodi, a social scientist, made a
presentation on the PC and PNDT Act. This was followed
by a presentation by Dr.B.C.Pathak, Additional Director,
Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government
of Uttaranchal, on the steps taken by the State Government
on issues related to the girl child in general and the declining
CSR in particular. He said that the process of registration
of ultrasound clinics has been started and 290 clinics have
already been registered. He mentioned that the
Government is working closely with NGOs in the state,
and several clinics on grounds of suspicion had been raided.
Mr. Ram Prasad Tamta, MLA, expressed appreciation of
the efforts made by PFI and Plan International, India and
the information provided through the presentations at the
workshop was an eye opener for him in terms of the facts
and figures related to Child Sex Ratio. Mr. Narayan Ram,
MLA felt that such workshops should be organized at the
grassroots level. Mr. Hamesh Khadkwal, MLA, was of the
view that literacy amongst women would go a long way in
improving the social status of women. Education of
women, involvement of religious leaders in the campaign
against female foeticide, workshops on a regular basis in
the state at the grassroots level and gender sensitive
population policies were some the recommendations which
emerged out of the discussions at the workshop. The MIAs
who participated at the workshop were unanimous in their
support to the issue and gave an assurance that they would
do all they could to curb the malpractice.
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Population and Development- A project in Rajasthan
JKTyre, JK Industries Limited, in
partnership with the Population
Foundation of India, is implementing
a Family Welfare project titled
'PARNARTAN" in Rajsamand Block
of Rajsamand District in Rajasthan.
The geographical area of the project
covers 60 villages with a total
population of 100000 people. The
basic aim of the programme is to
enable women to attain and maintain
optimal health and nutrition for
themselves and their children and to
enhance the capacity of community
stakeholders. Clinical services on
RCH and general health are provided
in a phased manner to the entire
project area, with the help of a mobile
van. Training, awareness and
development of linkages with the
government sector for resources and
supplies are other important activities.
PARIVARTANaims at building the
capacity of community level workers
on issues related to general health,
hygiene and RCH and to ensure their
involvement in making services
available on a sustainable basis at the
grassroots level. It also aims at raising
awareness and knowledge of the
community stakeholders on RCH
issues and general health through
Information, Education and
Communication (IEC)and Behaviour,
Change, Communication (BCC)
programmes. Other objectives of the
project are to provide quality RCH
services in the project area and to
organize socio-economic development
activities in the target villages to
enhance the effectiveness and
acceptability of the programme.
PARIVARTAN aims at building the
capacity of community level workers
on issues related to general health,
hygiene and RCH and to ensure their
involvement in making services
available on a sustainable basis at
the grassroots level. It also aims at
raising awareness and knowledge of
the community stakeholders on RCH
issues and general health through
Information, Education and
Communication (IEC) and Behaviour,
Change, Communication (BCC)
programmes.
A baseline survey, conducted in 20
selected villages within the project
area revealed quite a few startling
facts- that the women, had a very low
literacy rate - just 7 percent were
literate; out of the women who had
been pregnant during the last two
years, only 54 percent had availed
of any antenatal care and check ups.
Less than 17 percent of them had
undergone all the three antenatal
check ups. Less than one third of
the children were fully immunized
and 21 percent of them were not
immunized at all; out of the total
number of deliveries, only 30
percent were institutional deliveries
while 70 percent of the deliveries
took place at home. Even in these
cases, only 27 percent were
attended to by trained health
personnel; Although most of the
women knew about some method
of contraception, only 13 percent
knew about all the different
methods. Their friends and relatives
were the main source of
information. Fifty percent of the
women intended adopting the
permanent method (female
sterilization) in the future, through
services provided by the
Government; 27 percent of them
reported that they had heard of
AIDS and that their main source of
information was the media; more
than two fifths of the women
suffered from some reproductive
disorder or the other.
Empowering the Mallo tribe in Jharkhand
The Maltos are a tribe livingin the
Rajmahal hills of the San thai
Parganas of Jharkhand. They suffer
from poor health - not just
reproductive and child health
problems but also from diseases like
malaria, tuberculosis and kala-azar.
The Emmanuel Hospital Association
(EHA) runs the Prem Jyoti
Community Health and Development
Project, which is supported by the
Population Foundation of India. The
aim of the project is to improve the
overall health of the Malto tribe
spread across 140 villages of the
Rajmahal Hills.
A young Malto boy, two years of age,
was hospitalized for the treatment of
complicated tuberculosis. His sister,
Mariam Malto took care of him at the
hospital. During this period Mariam
had regular interaction with the nurses
of the ward and developed an interest
in their work. Having completed her
Matriculation, she expressed her keen
desire to work as a nurse. She began
working in full earnest as a volunteer
at the hospital and realiZingthat she
had the potential to learn, the Prem
Jyoti Project staff encouraged her to
learn. Ms Shashi Bala, a senior nurse
at the hospital, took her under her
wing and began tutoring her with the
aim of preparing her to take the
entrance examination for nursing.
Mariam familiarized herself with
medical termi-
nologies and the
Englishlanguage.
Auxiliary Nurse
Midwife (ANM)
courses are
conducted at
some of the
hospitals linked Ms. Mariam Malta
with the Emmanuel Hospital
Association. The efforts paid off and
after six months, she was selected for
training at the Navjivan Hospital at
Satbarwa. Knowledge is power and
this was a milestone for Prem Jyoti
- to be able to empower the Malto
community to take care of their
health in a better way.
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OnWorld AIDS oav - 2005 ...
!bcus
The 1st of December each year is
1 observed as World AIDS Day.
It is the international day of action on
HIV and AIDS. It is a day for people
to get involved and there are many
ways in which this can be done.
In Delhi, the Chief Minister, Ms.Sheila
Dixit, released a chart book titled
'HIV / AIDS in Delhi: Meeting the
Challenge', at a meeting at the Delhi
Secretariat. It is a bilingual chart book,
in English and in Hindi, which
contains a description of the situation
in Delhi with regard to HIV/ AIDS and
the state's response to it. Both the
Behavioural Surveillance and the
Sentinel Surveillance data have been
used to prepare the book. It states that
while the increasing number of cases
of HIV/ AIDS in Delhi is a cause for
concern, the disease has not affected
the population in the city with the
Mr. Yoganand Shastri, Health Minister, Govt. of NTC of Delhi and Ms. Sheila Dixit,
Chief Minister, Govt. of NCT of Delhi
severity with which it has spread in
some states of the country. However,
the high percentage of the population
The Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control
Society (TNSACS) observed World
audience. Similarly, Behavioural and
Sentinel Surveillance data have been
in the slums and high population AIDS Day by organizing a public used to gauge the current situation in
growth on account of the migrant meeting at Raja Muttiah Manram at the state of Tamil Nadu, with regard
population in the Capital are Madurai. Dr. K.Kalimuttu, Speaker, to HIV/AIDS. The chart book
stumbling blocks in the way of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, contains a description about the
struggle against the disease. The Mr. N. Thalavai Sundaram, Minister activities on prevention and care and
publication is a joint endeavour of the for Health, Tamil Nadu, support being carried out by different
Population Foundation of India and representatives of political leaders and organizations working in the state.
the Population Reference Bureau
(PRB), Washington. Mr.A.R.Nanda,
religious leaders participated at the
meeting and gave their messages for
According to the information
contained in the chart book, presently
Executive Director, PH, was invited the World AIDS Day on this occasion. the spread of the disease amongst the
by the Delhi State AIDS Control Dr.Kalimuttu released the chart book general public is on the decline.
Society to be at the event to lend
support to the cause of HIV/ AIDS
awareness and its prevention and
control.
on 'Tamil Nadu responds to HIV/
AIDS'. The book, like the one
released in Delhi, is bilingual- in Tamil
and in English- to cater to a wider
As part of the World AIDS campaign,
2005, the Programme Management
Unit of the Global Fund Round 4
Project "Access to Care &
Treatment" at PH and its state offices
participated in activities. The Manipur
state programme coordination unit
organized a meeting on December 3,
2005 at Imphal, ManipuT. The
objective of the meeting was to
promote the theme 'Stepping Up
Ahead ... Stop AIDS, Keep the
Promise". The Project Director,
Manipur AIDS Control Society was
invited as the Chief Guest. Most of
the participants at the meeting
represented the state level and the
district level networks of People Uving
With HIV/ AIDS ( PLWHAs), along
Dr. K.Kalimuttu, Speaker, Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and
Mr. N. Thalavai Sundaram, Minister for Health, Tamil Nadu
with some doctors of Manipur with
expertise in HIV/AIDS.
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m the Executive Director's Diary...
• The ED was invited by the Indian Institute of Health Management Research, Jaipur to participate at a workshop on Public-
Private Partnership in Health Sector on October 14-15, 2005. He chaired a session (group work), on 'Partnership for strengthening
IEC/Health Awareness/Health Education at the Community Level'.
• The Planning Commission invited the ED to a brainstorming and consultation in respect of the slow achievement and progress
in improving infant mortality rates and maternal mortality .ratios.
• The International Centre for Information Systems and Audit organized a seminar on 'Gender Sensitization of Audit Resources'
on October 18 - 19, 2005, for officers of the Indian Audif and Accounts Service, at which Mr. Nanda was invited to participate
at a panel discussion.
• The East-West Centre alumni association organized a conference -'South Asia Regional Conference' at the India Habitat
Centre, New DeihL Mr. Nanda made a brief presentation on 'Population and Demographic Transition in South Asia', at this
conference.
• The Indian Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR),as part of the Institute's academic programme, organizes a series
of guest lectures every year at the IIHMR in Jaipur. The basic objective of these lectures is to orient students and research staff
of the Postgraduate Diploma in Hospital ana Health Management with the healthcare interventions and related activities being
carried out, by the United Nations, bilateral, international and national NGOs in India. This year's lecture series was organized
on November 14 - 25, 2005. The ED, PH was invited to address the students on the activities of the Population Foundation
of India.
• Mr.A.R.Nanda chaired a plenary session at the National Conclave on 'Towards Millennium Development Goals in Health'
organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry at New Delhi on November 29,2005.
• The ED participated as a panelist at a symposium on Women and Population Policies on November 29 at New DelhLHe
presented aperspective of population policies and strategies in the context of treatment of women therein in India and China.
• The Nutrition Foundation of India invited Mr. Nanda to speak on the implications of changing child sex ratio, at a symposium
on Nutrition in Developmental Transition. The symposium, held at the India International Centre, New Delhi, was inaugurated
by Dr. Samlee Plianbangchang, the Regional Director of the World Health Organization.
• The Human Rights Law Network invited the ED to a national consultation on 'Legal Implementation of PC &PNDT Act'
at New Delhi on December 2-3, 2005. He chaired a session on 'Activating the PNDT Act - Public Interest Petition filed by
CEHAT in the Supreme Court of India. The Consultation was jointly organized by the Human Rights Law Network, the
Voluntary Health Association of Punjab, Action India and CAPED (Citizens against Pre-Birth Elimination of Daughters).
• The Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria held a meeting on 'Building Leadership Commitment for Accelerated
Implementation: The South and West Asia Cluster's High Level Meeting' at New Delhi, on December 6 to 7,2005. The ED,
PH was invited to the meeting.
• The second meeting of the Advisory Group on Community Action for the National Rural Health Mission took place at the PFI
on December 16, 2005.
Forthcoming Events
• A baseline survey (BLS) experience sharing workshop in Bihar in January, 2006
• A regional thematic workshop in Bihar in January, 2006
• A regional thematic workshop in Chhattisgarh in March, 2006
• Training of Trainers (Ton for newly selected MNGOs in Bihar
Mr. Nihar Ranjan Mishra, who has joined the·
Foundation on December 5, 2005 as Research
Associate in the Monitoring and Evaluation Division.
He has a Master's Degree in Economics and has
complete an M.Phii in Population Studies. He has
worked in the field of population, health and
development for two years.
Editorial Guidance
Mr A.R. Nanda
Editor
Ms A. Banerji
Editorial Committee
Ms Usha Rai
Dr Almas Ali
Dr Lalitendu Jagatdeb
Dr Kumudha Aroldas
Published by
Population Foundation of India
B-28, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi-110016, India
Tel: 91-11-42899770,42899771
Fax: 91-11-26852766
e-mail: popfound@sify.com
website: www.popfound.org