Re: $258 Million for Condoms?. Interview with Ashok ander of Gates Foundation

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum,

Re: /message/10350

This is not new. Most of the donors want to show quantitative achievements in a

short duration. The HIV/AIDS projects are becoming quantitative target oriented.

We all should understand, especially those who fund and implement programs, that

any initiative (let it be prevention or care) deals with humanbeings and hence

require time for behavior / attitude change.

USAID programs are also becoming like this and this number game makes the parner

NGOs and CBOs to " prepare " documents so as to please the funders. This is

actually doing damage to the whole issue of fighting against HIV/AIDS.

In Tamilnadu most of the NGOs (operating in the same district) claim to serve

5000 to 6000 PLHIV / MSM / FSW when the actual number will be much less. But the

donors need this kind of figures and the NGOs are simply supplying the numbers

they need.

Unless the ATTITUDE of the donors change we cannot look for any sustainable

program in India. The implementers should also start " teaching " the donors so

that the donors focus on QUALITY rather than QUANTITY.

Regards

Dr. S.Raman.

e-mail: <tenthplanet@...>

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum

Re: /message/10346

Engender Health Offers a tool COPE ( Community Oriented Provider Efficient )

which can complement the need of the hour - Quality Improvement and Quality

reflection.

We cannot generalise that NGOs are manipualting numbers. I have known both

CBOs and NGOs under Avahan Projects in Mumbai whose outreach is so good that

they have mobilized the community for service uptake on the strength of their

outreach activity.

Avahan has brought a lot of sytems in NGO and CBO with a speed which otherwise

could take decades to come in the NGO and CBO.

Infact all the funding agencies be it BMGF ,GLOBAL FUND, USAID or UNAIDS has

really added value to the prevention program which NACO alone could not have

achieved. All the programs have complemented NACO efforts.

Regards

Minal

Meenal Mehta

e-mail: <Meenalmehta@...>

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum,

Re: /message/10350

After reading the report and some of the responses that followed, I wonder how

people write in a hurry without really making an effort to understand the

intricacies in detail and checking the veracity of numbers.

It is a gigantic project unprecedented in the history of HIV prevention in

India. Having a reasonable experience in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention

intervention programs in India, I know the qualitative difference that Gates'

program has brought in this country.

It has not only attracted the best minds in the business but also laid prime

importance to the accountability of each penny spent.

Perhaps no donor agency works so closely with the implementing partners to track

the progress of the programs and revisit its strategies on a regular basis.

The hallmark of thise program is its ability to use monitoring and evaluation

data for running the program as scientifically as possible.

It may sound number-driven but these numbers are of great help in program

planning and implementation. The robust M & E system backed by honest periodic

evaluations coupled with number of other studies by some reputed agencies and

renowned universities make these programs quite unique.

I am sure when the program leanings will be disseminated to the larger audience

at large in future, Gates' program will be remembered as much for its scale of

operation as an innovative model for its role as a catalyst in responding to a

pandemic public health problem in a short span of time.

Regards,

Sudipta

e-mail: <sudipta_iips@...>