Kerala SACS starts Best Practice Documentation Unit

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Dear Forum

Kerala State AIDS Control Society (KSACS) has set up a Best Practice

Documentation Unit to identify, document and disseminate the success

stories and best practices taking place in the programmes and services

implemented to avert the spread of HIV and AIDS in the State of

Kerala.

 

This is a maiden effort in India by a State AIDS Control

Society to address the gap of inadequate documentation and

dissemination of learning from the programme implementation in

addressing the HIV/AIDS challenges.

 

Kerala State AIDS Control Society is offering various services and

programmes to meet the requirements of core high risk groups, low risk

groups, PLHIV, and general population in the State in line with the

guidelines issued by the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO).

All these services and programmes are effectively monitored and

reviewed in time and actions taken to manage the divergences. The

major drawback, yet to address, was the lack of effective

documentation and dissemination of learning from the field of HIV/AIDS

related programme implementation. There are several successful

initiatives and best practices in the field. The reports and observers

from various Organizations appreciate the unique programme

implementation experiences of HIV programme in Kerala. In several

rostrums it has hailed as the ‘Kerala Model’ of implementation.

Unfortunately only few efforts were taken at the State level to set up

a proper multiple level documentation system to capture the learning.

 

Realizing the fact, the IEC Division of KSACS, incorporated a

suggestion to start Best Practice Documentation Unit (BPDU) in the

annual action plan (AAP). The suggestion becomes fruition and now the

unit is functioning under the auspices of the IEC Division of KSACS.

The implementation of the unit is entrusted to the Hindustan Latex

Family Planning Promotion Trust, a leading professional organization

undertaking various health related and allied developmental

initiatives.

 

The proposed objectives of the Unit includes identification and proper

documentation of the success stories from the field of programme

implementation under NACP-III and its dissemination through various media, viz.

internet, newsletters, seminars, conferences,  press

releases, etc. It aims to capacitate the functionaries of KSACS

outlets/service centres with the basic skills to stimulate and report

the best practices happening in the field. It visualizes formulating

District Level Coordination Committees (DLCCs) of the Service Centers

in all the fourteen districts in the State to coordinate the

service provisions of the centers and identifying the success

stories.

 

The work force of the unit comprises of a Documentation coordinator

and a Programme assistant. With the support of DLCCs, they will

identify genuine success stories, document it properly and disseminate

it at various levels for extended perusal. There will be a system to

report the success stories in prescribed format by the functionaries/

service centres to the DLCC at any time. The Committee will verify the

claim and if found relevant, it will be forwarded to the Documentation

Coordinator. He will make in-depth investigation and document and

disseminate it on behalf of the IEC division of KSACS.

 

It is expected that the proper maintenance and monitoring of this Unit

will provide opportunity to all the service centres to share their

best practices and successful initiatives in the provision of

services. It will certainly pave way for boosting up the morale of the

service providers and improve the quality of service provisions under

NACP-III.

 

The Unit will be happy to share various stories documented.

More details can be had from www.ksacs.in

--

S.Ajai Kumar

Joint Director IEC

Kerala SACS

Red Cross Road

Thiruvananthapuram - 35

Kerala, India

e-mail: <ajai.ksacs@...>