DIMAPUR, May 17 (MExN): A five-member delegation, representing 90 civil society organisations, met with senior officials of National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) in New Delhi on May 16 to convey the need for a more participatory and inclusive process to ensure a meaningful design for National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) – IV.
The delegation handed over the resolution passed by the civil society at a National Consultation, held at New Delhi on May 12, which called upon the government to make the process of designing NACP IV more transparent and collaborative and recommended greater consultation with community groups whose rights need to be safeguarded. A press release in this regard was received here.
NACP IV is the next phase after NACP III, which was launched in July 2007. It will define the national response to HIV & AIDS over the next five years, and will continue to be inclusive and focused on marginalised, weaker sections and hard-to-reach population. The fourth phase is adopting the inclusive, participatory and widely consultative approach similar to that of NACP III. The process will essentially involve a wide range of consultations with a large number of partners including government departments, development partners, non-governmental organizations, civil society, representatives of people living with HIV, positive networks and experts in various subjects.
Looking back at the experience of NACP III, Dr S. Sundararaman, believed that strength of the process lay in being collaborative and adopting a similar approach in designing NACP IV. Dr. Sundararaman has been working in the field of HIV & AIDS since 1986.
Dr. Sayan Chatterjee, Director-General of NACO, assured the delegation that partnership with civil society organizations is the bedrock of any effort to address the problem of the HIV epidemic. He felt that any disconnect that may have happened between government and civil society organizations earlier has more to do with “perception than the actual reality”. He was open to any new ways of designing the NACP IV programme, including widespread consultations with community groups and a rigorous review of NACP III programme to understand the gaps and challenges that have emerged.
Welcoming the response of the Director General, Luke Samson of Sharan, assured him that civil society organizations will closely partner with NACO in organizing and facilitating the consultations with community groups across the country. In this connection, he stated that the “community groups representing IDU are willing to make the most of this opportunity to ensure that community-centered solutions and process are adopted and implemented to tackle one of the most challenging issues faced by the epidemic.”
Speaking on behalf of People Living with HIV, Loon Gangte, representing the Delhi Network of Positive People, emphasized that “with NACO supporting the process of regional consultation we can ensure that community groups determine the priorities of NACP IV.”
Speaking about some of the challenges the programme is experiencing, the delegation emphasized that if the epidemic had to be reduced then two major concerns have to be addressed. First, the many human rights concerns of communities at greatest risk have to be recognized stated Dr. Smarjit Jana of Durbar Mahila Samanway Committee, Kolkata. “Without a human rights framework addressing the social marginalization of sex workers, Men having sex with Men (MSM), transgender and injecting drug users, none of these population groups can be reached out to with prevention messages and services,” he added.
Secondly, we need a stronger perspective and framework for care and support. “We have to go beyond ART medication and address all other elements of care including critical care, opportunistic infections and nutrition,” stated Anjali Gopalan of Naz Foundation, India.
Taking this concern forward, Sanghamitra Iyengar from Samraksha, Bangalore emphasized that when it comes to the care and support of affected groups, even the present programme was falling short of its obligations. “In the design of NACP IV, there have been suggestions of shutting down care and support centres, ART are not a substitute for Care and Support. It has been widely accepted that Care is a continuum of which treatment is only one aspect. Treatment without care and support cannot succeed. While the public health system has been able to take on ART delivery, it has totally turned its back on care and support.”
Emphasizing this, Ashok Rau from Freedom Foundation, Bangalore said that although the NACP III document viewed care and support holistically, in the implementation, it had already been diluted to focus on getting people to treatment. “There is an urgent need to provide an adequate care and support initiative that address the specific needs of affected children”, he stressed.
According to P. Kaushalya of Positive Women’s Network, Chennai these two concerns are adversely affecting poor women the most. “With the surveillance data indicating year after year, that women are most vulnerable to HIV, a far greater effort needs to be mounted to reach out to them with services.”
Recognizing some of the imperatives behind these concerns, Anand Grover from Lawyers Collective, Mumbai who supported the government in shaping the HIV-AIDS Bill, stated that “we may win a few battles here and there but will lose the war that we are waging against the epidemic if we do not adopt a rights framework.”
On April 21 last, civil society and community based organizations such as Freedom Foundation, Lawyers Collective, India HIV/AIDS Alliance, MAMTA, Naz Foundation (India) Trust, INP+, DNP+,NMP+, PWN+, Samraksha, WINS, CFAR, Humsafar Trust, Praxis and Sharan had submitted a memorandum to the NACO and sought their inclusion and participation in designing and shaping NACP-IV. It was followed by a National Consultation on May 12 at the Constitution Club and attended by 90 representatives of civil society.
The delegation handed over the resolution passed by the civil society at a National Consultation, held at New Delhi on May 12, which called upon the government to make the process of designing NACP IV more transparent and collaborative and recommended greater consultation with community groups whose rights need to be safeguarded. A press release in this regard was received here.
NACP IV is the next phase after NACP III, which was launched in July 2007. It will define the national response to HIV & AIDS over the next five years, and will continue to be inclusive and focused on marginalised, weaker sections and hard-to-reach population. The fourth phase is adopting the inclusive, participatory and widely consultative approach similar to that of NACP III. The process will essentially involve a wide range of consultations with a large number of partners including government departments, development partners, non-governmental organizations, civil society, representatives of people living with HIV, positive networks and experts in various subjects.
Looking back at the experience of NACP III, Dr S. Sundararaman, believed that strength of the process lay in being collaborative and adopting a similar approach in designing NACP IV. Dr. Sundararaman has been working in the field of HIV & AIDS since 1986.
Dr. Sayan Chatterjee, Director-General of NACO, assured the delegation that partnership with civil society organizations is the bedrock of any effort to address the problem of the HIV epidemic. He felt that any disconnect that may have happened between government and civil society organizations earlier has more to do with “perception than the actual reality”. He was open to any new ways of designing the NACP IV programme, including widespread consultations with community groups and a rigorous review of NACP III programme to understand the gaps and challenges that have emerged.
Welcoming the response of the Director General, Luke Samson of Sharan, assured him that civil society organizations will closely partner with NACO in organizing and facilitating the consultations with community groups across the country. In this connection, he stated that the “community groups representing IDU are willing to make the most of this opportunity to ensure that community-centered solutions and process are adopted and implemented to tackle one of the most challenging issues faced by the epidemic.”
Speaking on behalf of People Living with HIV, Loon Gangte, representing the Delhi Network of Positive People, emphasized that “with NACO supporting the process of regional consultation we can ensure that community groups determine the priorities of NACP IV.”
Speaking about some of the challenges the programme is experiencing, the delegation emphasized that if the epidemic had to be reduced then two major concerns have to be addressed. First, the many human rights concerns of communities at greatest risk have to be recognized stated Dr. Smarjit Jana of Durbar Mahila Samanway Committee, Kolkata. “Without a human rights framework addressing the social marginalization of sex workers, Men having sex with Men (MSM), transgender and injecting drug users, none of these population groups can be reached out to with prevention messages and services,” he added.
Secondly, we need a stronger perspective and framework for care and support. “We have to go beyond ART medication and address all other elements of care including critical care, opportunistic infections and nutrition,” stated Anjali Gopalan of Naz Foundation, India.
Taking this concern forward, Sanghamitra Iyengar from Samraksha, Bangalore emphasized that when it comes to the care and support of affected groups, even the present programme was falling short of its obligations. “In the design of NACP IV, there have been suggestions of shutting down care and support centres, ART are not a substitute for Care and Support. It has been widely accepted that Care is a continuum of which treatment is only one aspect. Treatment without care and support cannot succeed. While the public health system has been able to take on ART delivery, it has totally turned its back on care and support.”
Emphasizing this, Ashok Rau from Freedom Foundation, Bangalore said that although the NACP III document viewed care and support holistically, in the implementation, it had already been diluted to focus on getting people to treatment. “There is an urgent need to provide an adequate care and support initiative that address the specific needs of affected children”, he stressed.
According to P. Kaushalya of Positive Women’s Network, Chennai these two concerns are adversely affecting poor women the most. “With the surveillance data indicating year after year, that women are most vulnerable to HIV, a far greater effort needs to be mounted to reach out to them with services.”
Recognizing some of the imperatives behind these concerns, Anand Grover from Lawyers Collective, Mumbai who supported the government in shaping the HIV-AIDS Bill, stated that “we may win a few battles here and there but will lose the war that we are waging against the epidemic if we do not adopt a rights framework.”
On April 21 last, civil society and community based organizations such as Freedom Foundation, Lawyers Collective, India HIV/AIDS Alliance, MAMTA, Naz Foundation (India) Trust, INP+, DNP+,NMP+, PWN+, Samraksha, WINS, CFAR, Humsafar Trust, Praxis and Sharan had submitted a memorandum to the NACO and sought their inclusion and participation in designing and shaping NACP-IV. It was followed by a National Consultation on May 12 at the Constitution Club and attended by 90 representatives of civil society.
