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