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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | No funds, no condoms, 3L in Maharashtra at HIV risk -Sumitra Deb Roy

No funds, no condoms, 3L in Maharashtra at HIV risk -Sumitra Deb Roy

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published Published on Jun 27, 2015   modified Modified on Jun 27, 2015
-The Times of India

MUMBAI: A practically broke Maharashtra State Aids Control Society (MSACS) has asked NGOs to curtail their HIV prevention activities in the state and do away with a significant chunk of their workforce. Over 182 projects that cater to nearly three lakh high-risk population in the state will suffer as distribution of condoms and syringes to availability of medicines and testing kits will take a direct hit.

The circular issued on June 11 has asked NGOs and community-based organizations (CBOs) to curtail the strength of their peer educators by 80% and outreach workers by 25%. A majority of these agencies have not received a dime from the state body since January this year, and therefore have been grappling with massive attrition due to non-payment of salaries.

The sacking of peer educators and outreach workers will directly impact the distribution of condoms, lubricants and syringes in the state's most vulnerable pockets. Peer educators are members or leaders who belong to the high-risk community (female sex workers, transgenders and men having sex with men) and carry out the crucial task of distributing condoms and motivating people to get tested.

The MSACS in its circular blamed the change in funding pattern of the National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) for the delay in receiving funds, which are likely to arrive only by October this year. However, TOI has learned that NACO had released around Rs 8 crore as a contingency measure, which has been lying with the state treasury for the past two months. Project director Khushalsinh Pardeshi could not be reached for comment.

MSACS that presented an annual budget of Rs 130.12 crore had received only three-fourths of the money. The annual plan for 2015-2016 of nearly Rs 200 crore is yet to be approved by NACO, which has committed only 80% or less.

Maharashtra till date remains one of the six high-risk states in the country with a prevalence rate of 0.40%. According to NACO's annual report, over 40,000 people had tested positive for HIV in 2013-2014 out of the 20 lakh who were tested, indicating that the HIV scare is still very pertinent.

The fund crunch, said to be one of the worst for the state body, has already started affecting people living with HIV. The stock of anti-retroviral medicines that keep nearly 1.80lakh adults and 11,000 children alive is erratic. While NACO provides the ART drugs, MSACS would often financially support NGOS to locally purchase drugs if the drugs did not come on time. "CBOs like us are struggling for existence. Who do you think will worry about some patients not getting medicines on time or progressing to the second line?" asked a Pune-based agency that is thinking of giving up three of its projects.

The crisis has also reached the state body's doorstep. Sources told TOI that the last lot of condoms has already been distributed to NGOs, while consumables required to draw blood and carry out HIV tests are long over at MSACS. Worse, the state body has run out of paper to print HIV test reports at several of its Integrated Centres for Counselling and Testing (ICTC).

"It is appalling how a national programme used the services of female sex workers and transgenders and now wants to get rid of them. Many of them have left prostitution to work fully for the programme. What are we going to tell them?" questioned Meena Seeshu, who runs three projects at Sangli. As per the state diktat, 40 of her peer educators stand to lose employment. "We suspect the rate of new infections is already going up," said a Pune-based NGO's director. Following the circular, at least two NGOs have communicated to MSACS that they will be withdrawing their projects with female sex workers and migrants.

When TOI contacted NACO, a senior official from the finance department said that it is time the state bore some burden of the HIV programme. "We have formed a committee that will negotiate with state governments. We will still be paying most of the money," the official said. The country's HIV programme has taken a beating since multilateral organizations, including WHO and several UN agencies such as UNICEF and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), have drastically reduced or diverted funds since 2013.

The Times of India, 26 June, 2015, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/No-funds-no-condoms-3L-in-Maharashtra-at-HIV-risk/articleshow/47821838.cms


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