Re: NACO: Invitation to join the partnertship forum on HIV/AIDS in India

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum,

This is a long overdue response by NACO to be more accountable to the civil

society it seeks to serve.

I'm not sure whether the invitation includes honorary consultants like me who

wander about the republic mapping projects and evaluation information and risk

behaviours together with information sharing around care, support and treatment

initiatives.

I suspect that the reason so much ad hoc activity has generated is because of

the lack of transparency and accountability to the positive community such as it

appears so far and the constant complaints from positive people about the lack

of effective services and community access to effective services.

I believe I could add something to the partnership if there was a category for

people like me, but I have to ask myself if a central government sub committee

like NACO has the same role now after moving about the various States and

auditing some of the funded projects from days gone by.

I have formed the view that NACO should be the provider of funds and the umpire

of standards for the Republic. The incorporated State Aids Control Societies

with their varied capacities for effective action should become the centres for

this partnership process.

I further believe that the funding that comes through NACO from various sources

should be distributed to the SACS on a pro rata basis according to the size of

the epidemic and the civil society, including positive people living with the

virus, interact with their own SACS to determine the priority for spending.

Much more focus testing of proposals needs to happen. A much greater number of

the affected and infected community needs to be involved in the design and

implementation phases of future activity and some timely evaluation to be

undertaken by funders, SACS and service users in combinations.

A far greater emphasis on Care and Support including treatment access will be

necessary before the SACS ever finds out just how many positive people live in

their respective states.

People need to understand that if treatment access is improved it will not

automatically mean that every positive person, including positive children, will

necessarily need to start HAART immediately but a much greater emphasis will

need to be given to nutrition, potable water, hygiene and natural therapies to

boost immune function followed by the prompt and effective outpatient treatment

of STI's and Opportunistic infections to slow down the

unacceptable death rate.

It is a well established fact that the earlier you find out your status and the

earlier you get an immune damage report the better will be your prospects for

overall health and the longer you will be able to live positively with the

virus.

In States where Stigma and Discrimination still causes problems out of

proportion to the better record in other States, programs to effectively deal

with that discrimination and the stigma that fuels it will be required.

Increasing involvement of SACS in ensuring competent levels of testing and

treatment initiatives exist in their States will be necessary and those with

this capacity already well established should seek to support those that

haven't.

There is a need to have some significant input to the third national AIDS

strategy in India before it is formed by the bureaucrats and maybe this is an

invitation for the process to begin, but please don't do it all in Delhi.

What do others think?

Geoffrey

E-mail: <gheaviside@...>

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum,

This is an exceelent idea promoted by NACO. If I may, I would like to make a

suggestion to make this idea a little bit more participative:

1. The sentence " Collaborate with one or more partners on a specific project. "

be changed to " Possibly collaborate...... "

2. The sentence " Wherever a joint programme for planning,

implementation,monitoring and evaluation can be developed, the partners will

participate in the development of such a programme. " be changed to " ....be

developed, the partners may participate... "

3. The sentence " All communications may kindly forwarded giving details such as

name and address of the organisation, major activities being carried out

including location of the project area and annual programme budget to ..... " be

changed to " All communications may kindly forwarded giving details such as name

and address of the organisation and major activities being carried out.... "

Presently the request looks more like an order rather than a request. If the

idea as suggested is to have a voluntary association of partners, then partners

with equal status would have far greater impact in the long run than an unequal

partnership.

regards

Sasi Kumar

E-mail: sasi.kumar@...