Hridaya Project: Partnership with India HIV/AIDS Alliance

Hridaya Project (Partnership with India HIV/AIDS Alliance, through FCRA) (2012 – 2016)

 

Hridaya Project specially based on Harm Reduction in India funded by Alliance India. This project is spanning in five countries (China, India, Indonesia, Kenya, and Malaysia),Working with a total of 35 IDU TI in three focus states namely Bihar (14 TI) Haryana (15 TI) Uttarakhand (6 TI), Community Action on Harm Reduction (CAHR) expands harm reduction services to more than 180,000 injecting drug users (IDUs), their partners and children. The programme protects and promotes the rights of these groups by fostering an enabling environment for HIV and harm reduction programming in these five countries. CAHR is supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Netherlands.

In India, CAHR is called Hridaya and is implemented by Alliance India in partnership with SASO, Sharan and a number of community-based harm reduction organisations and networks. This project has started from 2011. We have implemented this project from 25^th August 2012.

 Aims:

• Aims to strengthen civil society to implement more effective and impactful HIV interventions through harm reduction strategies.
• Increase access to services for IDU in under-served areas.
• Provide additional services in areas where services already exist.
• Escape IDU families from the risk behaviors.

 Objectives:

 Before the Hridaya Project, T.I. Project is running in IDU community from many years, this project only for IDUs but Hridaya Project team will train families on bed care, positive living, treatment preparedness and adherence. This project helps build the capacity of service providers, makes harm reduction programmes more gender-responsive, improves access to services and advocates for the rights of IDUs. In addition to providing services, Hridaya has a strong capacity building component to support advocacy, knowledge management and improved services for IDUs.

 Service Packages:  

• Positive prevention (Home based care)
• Peer Progression Support
• Strengthening Crisis Response
• Medical support (emergency situations)
• Life saving support (overdose)
• PLHIV emergency Support
• Drug Treatment Support
• Nutrition
• SRH
• OST follow up
• ICTC/Pre ART
• Hepatitis prevention education
• prevention & management of Overdose
• Legal Rights Education
• Outreach services focus on spouses, families of IDU (family meetings)
• Service demand generation through TI outreach
• Formation of peer support groups and network formation
• Sexual & Reproductive Health
• Social Entitlements
• Hepatitis testing
• CD4 testing
• Tuberculosis Management
• SRH/STI/TB

Home Base Care Meeting:

Under the program several advocacy meeting at different places. In these meeting we called of IDU families, stakeholders & general community of there. We gave them overview on T.I. & Hridaya project & discussed about HIV/AIDS, NSP (Needle/Syring Program), & OST (Opioid Substitution Therapy) etc.

 Best Practices:

• IMPART have done Advocacy meeting for Program related Informations, Rights & Facilities for IDUs with Mayer, MLA, Representative and Banks (HDFC Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Union Bank & State Bank of Hyderabad.
• Opened 356 A/Cs in our Community Event under “PM Jan Dhan Yojana”.
• Done 11 Hep. B & C Tests.
• Done Advocacy meeting for Program related Informations, Rights & Facilities for IDUs with Mayer, MLA, Representative and Banks (HDFC Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Union Bank & State Bank of Hyderabad.

 Challenges/ Gaps:

• New HRG attendance in Every Meetings is a Major challenge.
• Its very difficult work in between the IDU and illiterate people who are not going ready to listen a one single word.
• Stigma around the IDUs are contributing in increasing crisis against them by Police
• The effect of OST Drugs are not much visible in the community behavior
• To Refer For Detoxification is very difficult.
• The spouses of IDU are unable to convince them for use of condoms for the safer sex practice.
• IDUs, which are linked with OST CENTRE are unable to afford the travel cost i.e., they are dropped out by the OST Treatment.

ACHEIVEMENT BY HRIDAYA TEAM, IMPART IN THE YEAR 2015–16

Indicator: No	Core Indicator Description	Total Target	Total Achievements
Coverege
1	Number of injecting drug users covered (Registered) with Hridaya-supported services	400	444
2	Number of project beneficiaries (close contacts with IDU) benefiting from Hridaya-supported services	2000	2079
HIV/AIDS /Hepatitis/TB/SRH services
3.1	Number of individuals referred to ICTC	120	186
3.2	Number of individuals tested for HIV	120	186
3.3	Number of individuals who received Integrated counselling and testing and received their results	120	186
3.4	Number of individuals tested as HIV reactive (Positive)	3	5
4	Number of Individuals (who are) registered at ART center	7	22
4.1	Number of individuals done CD4 test at ART center	54	80
4.1.1	New		24
4.1.2	Follow up		56
5	Number of individuals who initiated ART with the support from the project		22
6	Number of IDU and secondary beneficiaries who are benefiting from TB treatment	108	119
7	Number of Individual who are referred to SRH (Non STI) related services	24	59
8	Number of IDUs received treatment education for hepatitis	320	364
9	Number of IDU who are tested for hepatitis through referral service	40	13
9.1	Number tested positive for hepatitis-C		8
9.2	Number of IDU living with co-infection (of both HIV and Hep-C)		3
Social Entitlement
10	Number of individuals linked for social entitlement services	80	467
Other Referral
11.1	Number of of IDUs referred for OST	80	85
11.2	Number of IDUs who initiated OST through referral service by the project	80	85
12	Number of spouses/partners referred for STI diagnosis and treatment	8	136
13	Number of IDUs referred for De-toxification	9	12
13.1	Number of IDUs dropped out of de-toxification		8
13.2	Number of IDUs successfully completed drug treatment		4
Overdose & abscess Management
15	Number of IDUs received education for Overdose, Prevention and Management	320	405
15.1	Number of overdose incidence reported (IDUs with Overdose reproted)		21
16	Number of IDUs covered under Overdose management and administered with Naloxone		21
Psychosocial Support
18	Number of Individual receiving Counselling Services	320	528
18.1	Number of counselling sessions	320	528
19	Number of Individual received legal rights education	320	415
20	Number of individuals received Emergency Support-PLHIV	27	52
21	Number of individuals receiving Nutrition Support through referral service by the Project		1
Home based care
22	Number of families receiving Family Councelling	290	296
22.1	Number of family members recieved family counseling	1450	1054
23	Number of Home based Care counselling meeting conducted	37	37
Support Group
24	Number of Support group formed	2	7
25	Number of Support Group meetings conducted	76	76
Crisis Response Team
27.1	Number of crisis response teams (CRT) formed	1	1
27.2	Number of incidences of violence and trauma registered to crisis response team		17
27.3	Number of incidences of violence and trauma responded to by crisis response team		17
28	Number of Support Group Meeting For Family meeting conducted	4	4
29	Number of Support Group Meeting For PWID on ART & OST meeting conducted	4	4
30	Number of Support Group Meeting For PWID on ART meeting conducted	4	4

 

World AIDS Day Commemoration at IMPART: A Brief

Like previous years IMPART commemorated World AIDS Day under auspices of TI and Hridaya project this year too. On this day people unite to show their solidarity for people living with HIV and tribute those who have died with this catastrophe across the globe. Currently, according to the World Health Organization, 34 million people are living with HIV. As per the Department of Health and Family Welfare (DoHF) 336 cases are registered in US Nagar since 2001 to 2013.

On this occasion IMPART organized a grand rally in Kiccha town. The rally was marched jointly by Health and IMPART functionaries by cutting a red ribbon at 10.00 AM. The rally started from IMPART’s office and routed to Kishanpur Adatya Chouk to Bangali colony to Kiccha Chouraha to Roadways station to Community Health Centre (CHC) to Police station to railway station to FCI godawn to Bandia to Sugar Factory to Krishna Vihar to Kishanpur and ended at IMPART office. The rally was participated by the around 450 total participants including 210 girls of Surajmal Degree College, Kiccha, 117 boys of Janta Inter College, Aganwadi Workers, 16 Asha Facilitators, 41 ASHAs of Kiccha area, Mrs. Indera Mishra,Patron Impart, Mrs. Binduvasini Secretary IMPART, Mr. Shyam Naryan Dubey, Project Director (TI), IMPART, Mr. Manoj Singh Community Mobilizer, District ASHA Resource Centre (DARC), staff members of other projects like TI team, ARSH UDAN project team, AWTC team, HRIDAYA Team, 6 peer educators and 36 HRGs of TI project. Following are the slogans used during the rally.

This was followed by a lunch break arranged at IMPART Kiccha. Subsequent to this, a lecture session at Kiccha was organized to spread the correct knowledge to the

participants on HIV -AIDS.

The lecture session begun with what is HIV -AIDS?

After getting the responses from students, HRGs and Peer Educator AIDS following content was delivered to the participants.

AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is a disease caused by a virus called HIV (Human Immune Deficiency Virus). The illness alters the

immune system, making people much more vulnerable to infection and disease. This susceptibility worsens as the disease progresses.

HIV is found in the body fluids of an infected Personal Semen and Vaginal fluids, blood and breast milk. The virus is passed from one to another through blood to blood and sexual contact. In addition, infected pregnant woman can pass HIV to their babies during pregnancy, delivering the baby during childbirth, and through breast feeding.

HIV can be transmitted in many ways, such as vaginal anal sex, oral sex, blood transfusion and contaminated hypodermic needles.

Both the virus   and disease are often referred to together as HIV/AIDS. People with HIV have what is called HIV infection. As a result, some will then develop AIDS. The development of numerous opportunistic infections in an AIDS patient can ultimately lead to death.

 Sign and Symptoms of HIV Infection:

• Fever
• Chill
• Joint pain
• Muscle ache
• Sare throat
• Enlarged glands
• A red rash
• Tiredness
• Weakness
• Weigh loss
• Sweats (particularly at night)

In many cases, after the initial symptoms disappear, their will not be further symptoms for many year. During this time, the virus carries on developing and damages the immune symptoms. This process can take up to 10 years.

The infected persons will experience no symptoms, feel well and appear healthy.

Diagnosis is made through blood test that screens specifically for the virus.

 Prevention:

Safe sex, shun use of illicit drugs or shared needle/syringes, safe blood transfusion etc.

At the end of the session a quiz competition with the students of Janta Inter College, Kiccha, HRGs and Peer educators, in which token prizes were given to the winners of the quiz competition.

Thus, this was a grand event, in which we had invited all key stakeholders including government officials of health and ICDS department, and district administration, US Nagar.