This report identifies barriers that children and families face in accessing anti-retroviral therapy (ART) centres in rural India. The report also seeks to find solutions to these barriers based on an operations research conducted in Maharashtra Pradesh and Manipur. Operations research objectives: * To build an understanding among policy makers of the barriers faced by children and caregivers accessing ART services in rural communities. * To assess and highlight a basic minimum level of standards for ART centres in terms of adequacy, quality and timeliness of support needed. * To explore opportunities for linkages with state and district level departments and/or local self-governing institutions
This report is intended as a tangible record of the 13th ICASA (International Conference on AIDS and STDs in Africa) conference: what was said, by whom and when. The report summarizes the highlights, beginning with the conference's history and moves on to themes and objectives. It presents the main issues emerging from the conference through the eyes of the rapporteur teams, key correspondents and selected participants. The focus then shifts to a brief description of the on-site newspaper Pamoja News and the skills building sessions, and finally, the rapporteurs' presentations. By documenting the proceedings of the 13th ICASA it is hoped that the momentum in collective struggle against HIV/AIDS will be maintained, through ongoing strategies of partnership, stakeholder collaboration, and cross and multi-sectoral approaches
This report explores the causes, manifestations and consequences of HIV and AIDS related stigma in sub-Saharan Africa. Based on a study in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia, it acknowledges stigma as complex, caused by incomplete knowledge, fears of death and disease and sexual transmission. Stigma is also influenced by socio-economic status, age and gender. The report also discusses in detail how people living with HIV react to stigma, and also how they and their families/ friends develop strategies to cope with stigma. Recommendations include the need to provide safe spaces to discuss the values and beliefs about sex, morality and death, find a common language to talk about stigma and ensure a contextually appropriate and ethically responsible role for people living with HIV