Targeted Intervention of HIV/AIDS Prevention Programme among Core Group Population, in Thanjavur District Supported by Tamilnadu State AIDS Control Society (TNSACS, Chennai)

PDI has been implementing this programme in Thanjavur District of Tamilnadu, since April 2007. It's a programme supported by Tamilnadu AIDS Initiative (TAI - VHS) funded by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for the period from 2007 to March 2012. The support provided by Tamilnadu AIDS Initiative (TAI) funded by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has come to an end by March 2012. The project has been transitioned to Tamilnadu State AIDS Control Society (TNSACS), as agreed by TAI-VHS with NACO from April 2012. The Target Population of the Project is 1208 Male Sex Workers (MSMs) who hail from the fourteen blocks of Thanjavur District. The staff team comprise of a Programme Manager, One Project Physician, Five Out-Reach workers, One Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, one ANM/Counselor. The major objective of the programme is to improve the quality of life of the target group and thereby reducing the risk of getting infected. It educates them on safe sex practices and motivates them to take treatment for STIs in the clinic attached with the project and with other Government Health Care Centres.

Twenty Peer Educators from the core group community support the project team for effective community outreach. They provide services such as educating their peers on STI/HIV/AIDS distribute condom and lubricant, refer their peers to STI Clinics and motivating them to undergo for HIV test in ICTCs, (Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres) once in six months.

The major objectives of the programme are to bring behaviour change among the MSMs and transgender, particularly with focus on disease prevention and quality of life, thereby enhancing their power to avoid unsafe sexual practices. The project also works to increase the health-seeking behaviour of the key population and to reduce the burden of sexually transmitted infections. The project is being implemented in fourteen blocks of Thanjavur district, namely, Thanjavur, Thiruvaiyaru, Buhalur, Papanasam, Ammapettai, Kumbakonam, Pattukottai, Peravurani, Orathanadu, Thiruvonam, Thirupananthal, Thiruvidaimaruthur, Sethupachatiram and Madhukur.

The community mobilization towards making the programme sustainable is an important activity of the targeted intervention project. The project takes efforts to mobilize the community of core group members to take up the programme on their own even after the withdrawal of the project activities. In order to make the programme sustainable with greater involvement of the community members, the project has formed Project Management Committee, DIC (Drop-in-Centre) Management Committee, Condom Monitoring Committee, Crisis Response Committee, The core group members take the responsibility of managing the committees and the staff team mentor the community to take up the initiatives. These committees eventually bring the community closer to the programme activities and the project team handhold them to learn the day to day activities of the project team.