FXB India Uses its Network of HIV/AIDS Projects for Tsunami support

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FXB India Uses its Network of HIV/AIDS Projects for Tsunami support

FXB India Uses its Network of HIV/AIDS Projects in India's 35 States

and Union Territories to Support families in These Coastal Fishing

Communities

PONDICHERRY, India, Jan. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- An Indian non-governmental

organization (NGO) that implements HIV/AIDS prevention, education and

treatment programs in all 35 states of India and its Union

Territories is using its medical expertise, its national network and

its long-term presence in local villages to facilitate the

distribution of relief supplies and to initiate reconstruction

efforts, following the tsunami that devastated coastal regions of

India on the Bay of Bengal.

Among the hard-hit fishing communities in the Union Territory of

Pondicherry (on the Bay of Bengal in Southeast India) the NGO, FXB

India -- the national branch of the worldwide Association Francois-

Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) that implements 87 HIV/AIDS programs in 18

countries -- is helping the local government to distribute food

packets, drinking water, medicines, clothing and a support-in-cash in

the villages of Kanagachettikulam, Periya Kalapet, Chinna Kalapet and

Pillai Chawadi where FXB programs exist.

FXB India has been combating the spread of HIV/AIDS for several years

in these and other Indian fishing communities since fishermen who

must be away from home frequently for long periods of time are a high-

risk group for HIV infection.

To support the efforts of FXB team in Pondicherry and other fishing

communities all branches of FXB India nationwide are collecting and

sending support material (mainly clothing materials and cash

donations). Many of the team members of FXB India have donated their

one-day salary towards the relief operation undertaken by the team.

A quick survey of damage done by the tsunami showed that in these

villages:

* Nearly 500 houses have been totally destroyed in the havoc.

* About 1,000 families have lost their belongings.

* More than 2,000 people are absolutely homeless and displaced.

* Nearly 250 mechanized boats (including outboard & in-board motor

boats)and 280 country crafts (catamarans) are either fully or

partially damaged and most of the fishing nets and other accessories

were destroyed. Many of the fishermen estimate that it will take at

least three months for them to venture into the sea again.

The FXB team estimates that required immediate relief materials

include:

* Clean water.

* Ration / food packets.

* Medicines.

* Cooking utensils, clothing, blankets & mattresses.

* Net protection against malaria-infecting mosquitoes.

In the medium and long-term, there is an urgent need to:

* Facilitate the reconstruction of houses,

* Repair boats, catamarans and trawlers,

* Repair or provide new nets,

* Provide educational aids for school going-children and healthcare

facilities especially for children.

* Offer grief counseling, care and support for the victims of the

Tsunami.

FXB India is also mobilizing the shipment of emergency supplies from

FXB projects and local people to the Union Territory of Andaman and

Nicobar Islands where it also conducts HIV/AIDS programs in the

fishing communities.

Fishing provides livelihood to a large section of the Indian

population living in coastal areas. Men frequently travel for long

durations to catch and sell fish. Many of them also indulge in high-

risk activities while away from home. On the other hand, these

communities have minimal access to heath care and information

services that could partly be attributed to their life style and to a

larger extent to the underdevelopment of the service delivery. FXB

India projects among fishermen and their families encourage behavior

change and distribute HIV/AIDS educational materials in the local

languages and provide condoms. Counseling and HIV testing are part of

the regular program.

FXB India's HIV/AIDS prevention, education, treatment programs serve

more than 235,000 people directly and another 860,000 indirectly.

In addition to contributing funds from its own resources, FXB is

encouraging contributions for the victims of the tsunami offering to

match dollar-for-dollar any monies collected.

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