According to UN estimates, India has two million children orphaned by AIDS, the largest number of children orphaned by AIDS of any country in the world. Abbott and the India HIV/AIDS Alliance have taken the approach of integrating HIV/AIDS services into longstanding, trusted community service organizations. This approach has provided multiple benefits, including rapid and cost-effective program scale-up, capacity building of local NGOs, and reduction in stigma associated with HIV.
Some of the unique aspects of these programs include:
- Using larger NGOs to mentor smaller ones, creating HIV/AIDS expertise among local NGOS on the grassroots level
- Working with community leaders to reach out to affected children, setting an example for the community to de-stigmatize HIV/AIDS
- Training thousands of volunteers, community leaders and peer educators, including children living with HIV, on AIDS prevention, care and support
Results to Date
Since 2001, more than 240,000 children and families affected by HIV/AIDS have received services, including:
- Stigma reduction and community engagement programs like “Handful of Rice,” where women set aside a handful of rice when preparing daily meals and the rice is then collected at community meetings and distributed to households with an HIV-infected family member; this program has been replicated by many communities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu
- Encouragement of community foster care to allow children to remain in a familiar environment when they lose their parents and homes due to HIV
- New competency in HIV care and support for 39 NGOs and community organizations that have delivered services to more than 19,000 children
- Formation of more than 300 child-led support groups
The partnership between MAMTA and Abbott Fund focuses on reducing the number of people living with AIDS in the community (specifically vulnerable adolescents) in the Delhi region of India. This child centric programme develops the capacity of the communities for the prevention of mother to child transmission and towards provision of care and support for those affected by and living with HIV/AIDS.
In Tamil Nadu, India, Abbott Fund works with its partner, Palmyrah Workers’ Development Society (PWDS) to sustain community-based responses for children affected by HIV/AIDS, people living with HIV/AIDS and their families as well as in the scale-up of care and support programs.
Abbott Fund is working with its partner, Prayas in western India on many projects, including: setting up a laboratory in Pune for routine screening, DNA PCR testing for infants, CD4 counts and HIV viral loads; training laboratory technicians and clinicians on new testing methods, counseling and care of HIV positive individuals; and developing materials for families, care providers and children in the form of written material, video films, electronic media materials.
Abbott Fund works with its partner, Vasavya Mahila Mandali (VMM) in Andhra Pradesh, India for the care and support of people infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS. Most recently, the Fund partnered with VMM to create a center for street children in Vijayawada, which will be used by night as shelter and by day for vocational training and counseling.
|