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P-ACT News Newsletter January - March 2010 |
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P-ACT News
Volume 1/ Issue 6
January-March 2010
From the Desk of the Executive Director
The HIV program in India has a vertical approach.
Over the years, HIV in India has percolated from
high risk group to general population. To address the
challenge of HIV in India we need to have an integrated
reproductive health, gender, legal, social and
development perspective. We need to reach out to more
stakeholders and larger audience. This would help in
awareness generation and also help to combat stigma
and discrimination associated with HIV.
Mainstreaming of HIV would not only reduce stigma,
increase access to treatment but also link People Living
with HIV with relevant development programs and
government schemes. Advocating with government,
corporate and civil society from national to sub district
level would result in better support for People Living
with HIV.
A. R. Nanda
Executive Director
Population Foundation of India
Message from the Project Director
Peer education is one of the most widely used strategies
to address the HIV pandemic. People Living with
HIV understand each other better and are often best
placed to counsel and support one another. Peer
counselors and out reach workers act as a bridge between
the People Living with HIV and service providers. To
fulfill their tasks, they need to have the skills of a
counselor, patience of a care taker and the knowledge
of a community health worker. The role of out reach
worker is multi dimensional- from providing
information, psycho-social support and building linkages
with providers. Hence regular training and mentoring
is vital for them. They are an essential link to reach
out to those who are still living in fear to accept and
disclose their status and seek help.
Dr Mary Verghese
Project Director
Population Foundation of India
SUCCESSFUL LINKAGES WITH CENTRAL RESERVED POLICE FORCE
The Network of People Living with HIV, Manipur had submitted a
proposal to Central Reserved Police Force (CRPF), Langjing to support
vocational training programs for Women Living with HIV. CRPF
has supported 5 DLNs, namely, Imphal East DLN, Imphal West
DLN, Thoubal DLN, Churachandpur DLN and Senapati DLN
through their Civic Action Program. CRPF, Langjing have provided
sewing, embroidery and wool knitting machines, raw materials and
other items to the DLNs. This support would empower the trained
women to stand on their own feet.
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Program Updates
International Women’s Day Celebration
The state unit of Population Foundation of India, Tamil
Nadu observed the International Women’s Day on 19th
March, 2010 with the theme “Equal rights, Equal
meeting was attended by district level key government
officials, Panchayati Raj Institutions, ICDS, Health
department, Medical College-ICTC & PPTCT, Hindustan
Latex Family Planning Promoting Trust (HLFPPT),
Rajasthan Network of People Living with HIV (RNP+),
District Level Networks, Community Care Centres and other
stakeholders. The meeting provided a stage to explore
avenues of coordination among stakeholders at the district,
block and panchayati level.
Mr Vidhyasankar Nandwana, Zila Pramukh chaired the
advocacy meeting. He remarked that all PRI members should
play a critical role in awareness generation of HIV and create
an enabling environment for People Living with HIV. He
focused on encouraging volunteer testing of HIV, facilitating
PLHIV towards treatment seeking behavior and also assist
A woman living with HIV participating in the hand print campaign
opportunities: Progress for all”. PFI collaborated with the
ART center of Madras Medical College (MMC) to organize
the event. Around 64 women and 7 men living with HIV
participated. Dr. Sekar, Sr. Medical Officer, ART Centre
awarded Women living with HIV who had adhered to
treatment and regular health check-up. Three positive
networks namely, Network for Chennai People Living with
HIV/AIDS (NCP+), Positive Friend’s Welfare Association
(PFWA+), Thiruvallur and Positive Women Network
(PWN+) were awarded for effective outreach activities.
Women participated wholeheartedly in the event. The day
ended with a hand print campaign. This hand printed banner
would be displayed at the ART centre of Madras Medical
College. A kit containing an umbrella, lunch box and biscuit
packets were given to all participants.
Advocacy Meeting in Rajasthan
District level advocacy meetings are conducted by Population
Foundation of India on a regular basis. The aim is to
advocate and mainstream the issue of HIV with a broad
range of stakeholders. The stakeholders range from
Government departments, health and medical professionals,
district administration, Panchayati Raj Institutions, members
of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), Non
Governmental Organizations and civil society.
Keeping this in view, The Regional Coordination Unit of
Population Foundation of India, Rajasthan organized an
advocacy meeting at the Indian Medical Association (IMA)
hall in Kota district of Rajasthan on March 26, 2010. The
Mr. Vidhyasankar Nandwana, Zila Pramukh, sharing his views in the
advocacy meeting
them in livelihood options. Ms Kamala Meena, the former
Zila Pramukh, mentioned the good work being done by
Kota District level Network of People Living with HIV
and encouraged the members in their future endeavour.
Representative of Rajasthan Network of People Living with
HIV (RNP+) provided an overview of how PRIs can help
in integrating the HIV/AIDS issue. They brought forward
few areas of concern like livelihood, migration and stigma
and discrimination. The meeting was highly appreciated by
all participants. Representatives from Panchayati Raj
Institutions decided to discuss the issue of HIV in Gram
Sabha Meeting. They also promised their support in building
strong referral linkages among ICTC, ART, CCC and DLN.
Advocacy Meeting in Chhattisgarh
The Regional Coordination Unit, Madhya Pradesh of
Population Foundation of India organized an advocacy
meeting in Raipur district of Chhattisgarh on March 18,
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Mr. Ajay Kumar Pandey, Project Director, CGSACS, chairing the
advocacy meeting
2010. The meeting was conducted in close coordination
with the State Mainstreaming Unit of Chhattisgarh State
AIDS Control Society (CGSACS). Government officials
from Department of Women and Child Development,
Health and Family Welfare and Panchayati Raj Institutions
participated in the event. Representatives from civil society
organizations, partner organization- Catholic Bishops’
Conference of India (CBCI) and local NGOs also took
part in the event. Mr. Ajay Kumar Pandey, Project Director,
CGSACS and Special Secretary Health chaired the meeting.
He said, “We expect support from all the departments to
reach out to PLHIV of the district as the current sentinel
survey data shows high prevalence in the district.”
Mr. Sarwat Hussain Naqvi, Program Officer of UNDP
facilitated a session on basics of HIV. Mr. Raza Ahmed,
Regional Coordinator of PFI, sensitized the participants about
the need for inter sectoral coordination to minimize stigma
and discrimination related to the HIV and to reach the general
community. All government officials from Department of
Women and Child Development, Health and Family Welfare
and Panchayati Raj Institutions highly appreciated the
advocacy meeting. It was felt that ICTC needs to be
established in all the Community Health Center. Officials
from Department of Women and Child Development
committed to take up the issue of HIV in Mitanin meetings
and Anganwadi Workers meetings. Mitanins are volunteers
who spread awareness about community healthcare needs.
They also decided to include HIV in trainings of “Kishori
Balika” program. The Department would also counsel the
newly wed couples under the Chief Minister Kanya Dan
Yojna for voluntary HIV testing. Representatives from
Panchayati Raj Institutions decided to discuss the issue of
HIV in Gram Sabha and Janpad (Block) Meeting.
Coordination Meeting in Ahmedabad
Regional unit of Population Foundation of India, Rajasthan
conducted a coordination meeting for service delivery points
on 19 – 20 March, 2010 at Ahmedabad. The participants
were from 12 Community Care Centers (CCC) operating in
Gujarat, officials from Gujarat State AIDS Control Society
(GSACS) and Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI).
The aim was to review, share and learn from each other. It
also focused on establishing a mechanism to resolve grass
root level coordination issues, specific to ART, CCC and
District Level Networks.
Dr. Pradeep Kumar, Additional Project Director, GSACS
mentioned that GSACS is taking active steps to strengthen
coordination between ART and CCC. Being part of NACP
III, CCC is now involved in all DAPCU meetings. Dr. Manoj
Shevkani, Regional Coordinator, NACO informed about
various government schemes like widow pension, nutritional
support, scholarships for Children Living with HIV and
special leave from school for Children living with HIV for
ART and opportunistic infection treatment. GSACS, PFI
and CBCI reviewed the program activities of CCCs regarding
enrollment, coordination, counseling, outreach and referral
linkages. The CCC representatives also shared their best
practices, lessons learnt and challenges.
Some of the areas that need to be strengthened are:
CCCs need to improve their outward referral to ICTC,
PPTCT, DOTS Center, etc.
CCCs should display government schemes available to
PLHIV
Care takers to be part of drug counseling sessions
Training of Outreach Workers
EngenderHealth Society conducted trainings for outreach
workers at Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh from 9-11 March, 2010.
46 outreach workers were trained in two batches at the
Kripa Training center, Ujjain.
The outreach workers act as connectors, bridging the care
center and the community of people living with HIV -
connecting service providers to the service users. They
motivate the service users in taking care of themselves and
their families. They multitask – from building rapport with
Participants at the outreach workers training in Ujjain, Madhya
Pradesh
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the client and their family members, caring for the people
while they are at the center, building community linkages,
reaching out to defaulters, following up with clients through
home visits and telephone calls.
The training focused on - opportunistic infections, ART,
nutrition, working with special populations like MSM, sex
workers and Injecting Drug Users. The other topics included
sexual and reproductive health of people living with HIV,
PPTCT , motivating family members to care for people
living with HIV, supporting people in HIV testing, positive
living and team coordination .
After three days of interactive participatory sessions, the
outreach workers expressed their learning in many ways –
“First time I learnt about the female condom and also
had a chance to see it ” ;
“I was fortunate to be the counselor in the role play, I
am more confident in supporting people with
information and the support they require”;
“Person who is reducing weight has to have body
building foods – Now I can tell recipes with what is
available in our place”
CMIS Training
The Program Management Unit at PFI organized a training
program on Computerised Management Information System
(CMIS) for District Level Networks (DLNs) under the
Round 6 PACT program from March 21- 23, 2010 at
Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. 44 participants from the District
Level Networks of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and
Rajasthan were trained in this workshop.
Data Quality Audit
Population Foundation of India conducted the External Data
Quality Audit for Community Care Centers & District Level
Networks under Round 6 program. Indian Institute of Health
Management and Research, Jaipur was assigned to conduct
this audit. Six out of 56 Community Care Centers (CCCs)
and seven out of 68 District Level Networks (DLNs) from
the eight highly vulnerable states were chosen for the audit
through sampling.
The objectives of the Data Quality Audit were to verify the
quality of data reported at selected sites and to assess the
ability of data management systems to collect and report
quality data.
The reliability aspect of the data is addressed by conducting
desk review. The validity of data is addressed by visiting
beneficiaries enrolled in the program. The assessment of
data management systems is conducted at the management
units of PFI, Sub Recipients and Service Delivery Points
(SDP). The final results of Data Quality Audit were
disseminated on 18th February, 2010.
The following were some of the recommendations:
Coordination among staff to be emphasized (Counselor,
Nurse and Out Reach Workers) at SDP level for data
recording in the registers.
Periodic refresher training for the regular staff and
training for staff turnover at SDP level is required.
Training to analyze and use data locally
Feedback and communication to be properly
documented at all levels
Indian Network for People Living with
HIV/AIDS
Chennai
Ph: 044- 22254670-74
Freedom Foundation
Bangalore
Ph: 080- 65966445
With Contributions from:
Partners
Confederation of Indian Industry
Gurgaon
Ph: 0124- 4014060-69
EngenderHealth Society
New Delhi
Ph: 011- 26851948/49/50
Hinduathan Latex Family Planning
Promotion Trust
Noida
Ph: 0120- 4673673
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India
New Delhi
011- 23344474
Population Foundation of India - Regional and State Offices
Population Foundation of India
B- 28, Qutab Institutional Area
Tara Crescent, New Delhi- 110016
Ph: 011- 43894100, Fax: 43894199
E-mail: popfound@sify.com
Website: www.popfound.org
PFI- Andhra Pradesh
Ph: 040- 65999770
E-mail: pfiapsco@yahoo.com
pfiapsco@gmail.com
PFI- Tamil Nadu
Ph: 044- 24329074
E- mail: pfichennai@gmail.com
PFI- Karnataka
Ph: 080-41285706
E-mail: pfibangalore@gmail.com
PFI- Manipur
Ph: 0385-2445072
E-mail: pfimanipur@rediffmail.com
PFI- Maharashtra
Ph: 022- 65029710
E-mail: mahapfi@gmail.com
PFI- Nagaland
Ph: 03862- 234009
E-mail: popfound_nagaland2yahoo.co.in
PFI- Rajasthan
Ph: 0141- 2210680
E-mail: pfirajasthan@gmail.com
PFI- Madhya Pradesh
Ph: 0755- 2550647
E-mail: pfi.madhyapradesh@gmail.com
PFI- Uttar Pradesh
Ph: 0522- 2353838
E- mail: pfiuttarpradesh@ gmail.com