DAPCUs in Nagaland Support Liquidation of Advances

Nagaland DAPCUs support Liquidation of

 Advances

FLOW CHART

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Nagaland State AIDS Control Society and DAPCUs in the state are working towards timely settlement of advances provided to peripheral units. A few steps taken by NSACS to build capacities of DAPCUs as well as to facilitate district level processes are outlined below and this is followed by a description of their achievements and challenges.
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Capacity Building of Accounts Assistants: The Nagaland SACS organized periodic meetings with accounts assistants to build their capacity on liquidation of facility level advances. These meetings also served as a platform to clarify doubts regarding specific unsettled advances.

Timely information - All DAPCUs in the State share that they receive copies of the sanction orders regarding advances. The routine release of advances in the state is once in a quarter and the sanction copies are provided quarterly too. In addition to copies of the sanction order, SACS officials also follow up regarding the liquidation status during field visits and other interactions.

Instructions to facilities: Most DAPCUs faced resistance during their initial interactions with NGOs on the issue of finances; however the situation improved owing to the persistent efforts of the DAPCU team. Nagaland SACS also came forward and issued orders instructing facilities and NGOs to settle advances within 7 days of completion of the programme. This combined with the DAPCUs supportive role, has led to facilities now perceiving DAPCU as a resource and support.

At the district level, most DAPCUs maintain detailed records of releases to facilities as well as SOE and UCs. Whenever sanction orders are received by DAPCUs, they inform the facilities of the same as well as initiate discussions on settlement. DAPCUs team members oriented these facilities regarding the procedure to submit correct SoE and UCs through field visits.

Achievement

During the financial year 2011-12, Nagaland SACS released a total of Rs 6,90,60,989.91 to 10 DAPCU districts. Rs 6,89,58 , 908/- was settled (SOEs and UCs + amount returned) by the districts. And only 0.21% of the amount released was unsettled i.e. RS 1,44,163 with the districts. The DAPCUs in Nagaland have settled 98% of the amount released to the district.

A few challenges as experienced by the DAPCUs are

• Delay in release of advances owing to delays related to SOE UC submission
• Frequent changes in administrative personnel and incomplete handing over at district and sub district levels
• Erratic internet and phone connectivity as well as power supply in some districts
• Initial hesitation by NGOs in sharing financial information
• Incorrect SOE UC submissions by facilities 
  Courtesy: NAGALAND SACS

DAPCU Coimbattore, Tamil Nadu Response-September 2012 Theme:

Positive Prevention Programs in Coimbatore District DAPCU

• Voluntary HIV testing and counseling that is confidential, consenting and with appropriate pre and post-test counseling.
• Diagnostic testing to monitor HIV and the immune system and regular screening, diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis.
• Antiretroviral therapy, including beyond first-line drugs, information and counseling on treatment literacy and services to support adherence to drug regimens.
• Regular screening, diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections.
• Prevention of opportunistic infections through drug prophylaxis and environmental interventions (nutrition, clean water, bed nets), and treatment when infections occur.
• Ensuring adequate, affordable supplies of male and female condoms and lubricants, and promoting their use.
• Sexual and reproductive health care like contraceptive services, maternal health services, and gynecologic and urologic care.
• Programs to support positive pregnant women and antenatal care to help them promote the health of their unborn child, including preventing parent-to-child transmission.
• Nutritional education, blood safety counseling and assistance.
• Diagnosis, counseling and treatment for depression and other mental health issues, which are common among people living with HIV.
• Counseling to build self-esteem, relationship counseling, risk-reduction counseling, including both individual counseling and skills-building.
• A person living with HIV and Positive Network NGO’s spoken openly and increase solidarity.
• Counseling for sero-discordant couples. These sessions should acknowledge the need for couples to express intimacy through sex and work to identify ways to have sex more safely. Counseling around exercise and encourage regular physical activity.
•  Peer support groups, especially for vulnerable groups including women, young people, young people born positive, sex workers, injecting drug users, and men who have sex with men.
•  Substance use interventions sensitive to the needs of people living with HIV.
•  Help in obtaining a safe, affordable place to live and services to ensure transportation to health clinics and places of employment.
• Child care services to enable parents to obtain health care, to work, and to participate fully in counseling and support activities.
• Employment assistance and income-generating and micro-credit programs
• Legal assistance to cope with issues such as HIV-related discrimination, insurance coverage. Advocacy and counseling trainings to support the greater involvement of people living with HIV.
• Specific training for health care providers in the health care needs of people living with HIV, as well as counseling and training on treating people living with HIV with dignity and respect
• Mass media campaigns to combat stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV.
• Training for journalists in how to report accurately and sensitively on issues related to people living with HIV.

Coimbatore DAPCU is doing above Positive prevention programs in our district. At the same time, positive prevention is linked to other preventive health care efforts, including efforts to prevent HIV transmission. Everyone is responsible for stopping the transmission of HIV and everyone also has a role to play in making sure treatment is available, reducing stigma and discrimination, and reforming punitive and ineffective laws. Positive prevention will succeed “when everyone joins together for the same cause”; successful positive prevention will benefit everyone.

DAPCU Bhadrak, Odisha Response-September 2012 Theme:

Why is positive prevention important?

1. To prolong the lifespan of PLHIVs itself with safe sex practice and controlled viral load.
2. To prevent new infection in the vulnerable community for a safer society.
3. To uphold the basic health rights of the people those who are vulnerable.
4. To involve the positive people in mainstream of the society encouraging them not to spread the infection.
5. To reduce the morbidity due to HIV-TB co infection cases.
6. Through mass awareness, an important tool of positive prevention reduction in stigma and Discrimination.
7. As there is no permanent cure, only prevention is the cure.

What are the strategies for positive prevention underway in our districts?

1. Ensured PPTCT by in time administration of Nevirapine & CPT coverage.
2. Counseling and testing services through ICTC/STD Clinic
3. Linkage/referral to different service delivery points.
4. Targeted intervention programme for HRG with STI treatment,BCC &Condom Promotion.
5. Advocacy and IEC activities with different line departments and civil society organization.
6. Organizing VBD camps for prevention through blood.
7. Community mobilization and awareness.
8. IEC among youths through Red Ribbon Club.
9. Provision of Social Benefit Schemes to all needy PLHIVs for their livelihood development preventing high risk behavior.

What role does the DAPCU play in this regard?

1. Preparing action plan & Spatial Map for Mapping of vulnerability.
2. Ensuring effective review, monitoring and supervision with Co-Ordination and linkage.
3. Organizing training for capacity building of the service providers.
4. Data compilation/validation for report return and evidence based planning of intervention.
5.  Ensuring convergence of NACP activities with district administration, all line departments by organizing periodical advocacy meeting & sensitization workshop on issues relating to HIV/AIDS.

DAPCU Araria, Bihar Response-September 2012 Theme:

1. Why is positive prevention important?

• Because, HIV prevention programmes not only gives information, but also build skills for healthy living and provides access to essential commodities such as condoms or sterile injecting equipments.
• It is very necessary to prevent the HIV virus embedding in to new ones to achieve the goal of halt and reverse the epidemic.

2. What are the strategies for positive prevention underway in your district? 

• Advocacy with the different stakeholders and stress on mainstreaming of HIV/ AIDS is every one's accountability. We are providing training for health care providers regarding essential health care needs of the PLHIVs.

 3. What role does the DAPCU play in this regard?

• We are communicating to the grass root level health professionals about HIV prevention, during meeting at Block / PHC and APHC level and district level health consultants are also giving support to us in this regards. We are doing supportive supervision in all the peripheral facility centers for giving better support to PLHIVs and also ensuring clear & correct is going to common mass to serve the cause of positive prevention.    
• In district level meeting, we are convincing all concerned line department’s officials to facilitate PLHIVs in getting all available social benefit schemes provided by the government in this regard. 

  

DAPCU Vadodara, Gujarat Response-September 2012 Theme:

DAPCU Vadodara has sent in this presentation as a response to the theme of the month. The presentation borrows from the established aims and objectives of positive prevention as well as includes DAPCU Vadodara’s perspective on DAPCU’s Role in positive prevention. 

Davanagere DAPCU, Karnataka Response-September 2012 Theme:

1. Why is positive prevention important?

• To control & prevent new infections
• To reduce burden on family, community, health & economy of the country
• To reduce stigma, discrimination & protect health care providers
• Positive prevention important to mainstream HIV

2. Strategies for positive prevention at your dist level:

• Awareness to all, specially for high risk groups
• Sensitization programmes for Govt & Private bus operators, Railways staff, Hotel staff, Street vendors, Private/Public sector organizations
• Trainings to all line department stake holders, ZP, TP members.
• IECs, Media[print & electronic],Folk, IPC
• ARSH programmes at school & College level
• Integration with health system: NRHM for PPTCT, STI services & HIV/TB Collaborative activity.
• Counseling & prevention through ICTCs, ART, FICTCs, and PPP model ICTC, Mobile ICTCs, DLN, DIC, TI & CCC.
• Sharing of experiences by Positive speakers
• Short slide shows in public gathering: Railway platforms, bus-stand, waiting areas[Hospitals], Cinemas, Market places
• Discussing strategies/case studies adopted in other districts & states with District administrator 

3. Role of DAPCUs: 

• To monitor, supervise & ensure effective implementation of HIV/AIDS activity at district level for Positive prevention in coordination with Line Departments, NGOs, & District administration 

Lastly, positive prevention is very important to get to ZERO infections, reduce stigma discrimination instances to ZERO. 

DAPCU Blog Workshop- 21st and 22nd September

Read about the experiences of the 8 blog volunteers at  

Workshop for DAPCU Blog Team -Moderating DAPCU SPEAK

21^st and 22^nd September 2012

Hyderabad

It was a very challenging and exciting time at DNRT Office Hyderabad for the participants who have volunteered to train for the DAPCU Speak management on the 21st and 22nd September 2012

On the first day Dr Ganesh Oruganti , SHARE-India welcomed us and made us feel 'at home' far away from home. We are about to be entrusted with a great responsibilities of managing a National Blog on DAPCU activities. The audience is nation-wide and across the world. The beginnings of DAPCU Speak and the future scope was vividly painted for us to envisage what is expected of us all here in the training.

Madam Roshni took us through a discussion on our experience of blogs, social networking sites and DAPCU SPEAK and all of us were listening with our mouth wide open. It was so mesmerizing and informative.

We learned why DAPCU SPEAK is important and that for the first time a collective DAPCU team of 8 persons from all corner of the country will be managing the DAPCU BLOG. Mr Ranjeeth also walked us through a quiz to – this helped us consolidate our understanding of the blog.

Without going into specific details , we can say that all technical knowledge to manage the blog was taught to us all. Each participant was given hands on training for every activity that needs to be done. Finally demystified the blogging and using You-tube videos , photos using picassa , googledocs to enhance our DAPCU Blog.

Further in the first day, we also heard a very inspiring message from Dr Rajan on Skype video conferencing. He encouraged and motivated the team. To be sincere, responsible as the whole world would be viewing what is posted on the blog. And he also told us that as we go back to our home State/district we should disseminate whatever we have learnt with the DNRT.

Day two had us working on more technical aspects , we also managed to squeeze in a session on group calling through Skype , so that all of us can be in touch even though are so far away from each other. We also worked assigning roles and responsibilities for each and every team member , a strategy for rotation in two months.

Finally all 8 of us go back home, taking with us the good memories of the training; confident that we will be able to take DAPCU SPEAK to new frontiers, overcome new challenges and achieve all that was envisaged when DAPCU SPEAK was conceptualized and given birth and even more!

Jai Hind.

DAPCU BLOG TEAM


Particulars of Blog Team Members  

    
     Sl    Name                                       Designation                              State/contact Nos

1. Dr Thangpa Serto                  DACO                                         Manipur/09612153224
2. Mr. Mhd. Amanuallah          DPM                                          North Delhi/9990000786
3. Dr Janaikar                            DPM                                          Akola/9370865966
4. Ms KN Baby                           DIS                                             Kodagu/9414474172
5. Dr Manu Modi                        DIS                                             Udaipur/9414474172
6. Mr Balajee Pindi                   DPM                                           Vizianagaram/9177103223
7. Mr Samson Idahosa             DPM                                          Adilabad/8008555980 
8. Mr Ganeswar Panda              DPM                                          Balangir/0937111280 

 

These members will be in touch with DAPCUs around the country and help them in using the blog and posting about their work on it. Please welcome them.

To read a detailed report click here

Kamrup DAPCUs Response to September Theme:

POSITIVE PREVENTION

Q.1 Why is positive prevention important?

• Positive prevention is Interventions designed to keep people living with HIV (PLHIV) physically and mentally healthy and to prevent HIV transmission to other people and increase the involvement of HIV +ve individual in prevention activities.

• Positive prevention is important because HIV prevention needs to reach both people who are at risk of HIV infection and those who are already infected.

• People who do not have HIV need interventions that will enable them to protect themselves from becoming infected.
• People who are already living with HIV need knowledge and support to protect their own health and to ensure that they do not transmit the virus to others.

Q.2. What are the strategies for positive prevention underway in your district?

• The following strategies for positive prevention underway in my district are highlighted.

• Partner counseling and testing of the PLHIV- The counselors of ICTCs and TI NGOs are directed to do the partner counseling on a regular basis.
• The HIV +ve pregnant women are called to ICTC every month for counseling on the following matters.

1. Institutional Deliveries.
2. Counseling on nutrition.
3. Safe sex.
4. Breast feeding.

• Moreover now ORWs have been newly appointed where main work is to follow up the HIV positive pregnant women and to bring them to ICTCs regularly. They also do outreach activities in remote areas and motivate pregnant clients to come to ICTCs for HIV screening.
• Community event programmes are regularly organized by the TI NGOs where the PEs along with the clients are invited. In these programmes importance is given to behavioural change among the HRGs.
• Making the mass Aware of HIV/AIDS: For positive prevention it is very necessary to make the general mass aware of the disease. To reach the mass it is the best policy to target the children. For positive prevention awareness of the school children has been started in my district.

Q.3. What role does the DAPCU play in this regard?

• DAPCU has been playing a vital role for positive prevention in the district. The following can be quoted for example:

• For prevention of infection from mother to child transmission the counsellor has to submit the line list of positive pregnant women to DAPCU (along with Assam SACS) from where the details of follow up can be monitored. If proper follow up is not done DAPCU can request the ORWs of the CCC to follow up the cases.
• DAPCU has started attending the weekly meetings of the newly appointed ORWs (under IL&FS). In these meetings the ORWs are advised to motivate the adolescent girls (for STI/ HIV screening) and newly married couples to bring to the ICTCs.
• DAPCU attends the VHND programmes along with the ICTC counsellor and ANM where the pregnant client and their spouses are made aware of HIV – its transmission, importance of HIV screening. Information regarding STI and STI/HIV interrelation is also shared in such programmes.
• The counselors have to submit an outreach report to DAPCU every month where the details are provided regarding their outreach activity with the following data-

1. No. of participants.
2. Topics of discussion.

• DAPCU Staff are also invited by TI NGOs in their Community event programme.
• Dapcu has taken steps to make childeren aware by undertaking awareness campaigns in different schools of the district.

Photos of Awareness Campaigns