Release of ICRW Stigma reduction Tool kit by Health Minister Andhra Pradesh

[Guest guest]

Release of ICRW-BPWT Stigma and Gender-based Violence Reduction Toolkit

The Hon. Minister for Health, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Sri. Chandra Sekhar

Sambani released a toolkit for healthcare providers, Reducing HIV Stigma and

Gender-based Violence, developed by the International Center for Research on

Women (ICRW) in partnership with Bhoruka Public Welfare Trust (BPWT) at a

dissemination meeting held 20th September 2007 in Hyderabad.

In his address, the Honourable Minister assured the audience of the government’s

commitment to initiatives to control the HIV/AIDS epidemic and hoped that the

toolkit would be replicated, adapted and used in statewide programs. He extended

his support to scale up efforts.

Sri Ashok Kumar, IAS, Project Director APSACS, was also present. He described

various innovative efforts that the state of Andhra Pradesh already has made to

address the issues of stigma and promote an environment of openness. He

particularly emphasised the Bold Doctor initiative and pointed out that in a

short time, there has been a massive uptake of integrated testing and

counselling centres and ART services in the state. He underscored the importance

of the ICRW toolkit as a crucial resource in these efforts.

ICRW Asia Regional Office Director Dr. Ravi Verma highlighted the need to

integrate such frontline healthcare providers as AYUSH in HIV-prevention efforts

and said that he hoped participating organisations and APSACS would be able to

scale up these efforts. Dr. Nata Duvvury, Director of ICRW’s Gender and Violence

work, also presented an overview of findings from the evaluation of the

toolkit’s effect on people’s attitudes and behaviours. Ms. Nandini Prasad,

Project Director, provided an overview of the toolkit and its objectives. The

dissemination meeting also included a skills-building session – led by Dr. Ross

Kidd – with participants, including healthcare providers, representatives from

positive networks, community organisations, and bilateral and donor agencies.

The Stigma and Gender-based Violence Reduction toolkit has been developed and

tested through the Reducing Stigma and Violence Toolkit for Health (SVTH)

project, which ICRW and Borukha Public Welfare Trust conducted in Andhra Pradesh

from 2005-2007. A series of exercises included in the toolkit have been

developed through an intensive participatory process, involving frontline health

care providers that included, registered medical practitioners (RMPs) and

traditional birth attendants (TBAs). The toolkit is a collection of

participatory educational exercises organized around five major themes on HIV

stigma: gender-based violence, shame and blame, more understanding, less fear,

and moving to action. The full set of modules is not meant to be used as a

complete package in a single course; the exercises are meant to be used

selectively.

The development of the tool kit has been supported by Levi Strauss Foundation.

For details on the ICRW toolkit, please contact Nata Duvvury at Nduvury@...

or visit out Web site at www.icrw.org.

" Ravi Verma " <rverma@...>