Funds shortage crippling NGOs’ work in AIDS-hit areas

Nagpur: Targeted intervention, or focusing on population groups most vulnerable to HIV-AIDS, has been the mainstay of National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO). It has yielded good results with the rate of new infections coming down to 1% over the last 15 years. However, the lax attitude of state government towards a disease that does not even have a cure, has scared activists that the infection may rise with a vengeance in the coming years.Between January and September this year, NGOs working towards AIDS prevention among the various vulnerable groups didn’t get any funds from the state government. They also faced a huge scarcity of basic supplies like medicines, STI testing kits and condoms that they distribute free to the group they work among. This had forced several organizations to shut down the projects they were working on. The funds needed for continuing their projects had been released from NACO, but not released to the organizations by the state government.
“The work of several years would be undone by inactivity of a couple of months. People we cater to are often the kind who would use a service like STI testing only when they are provided free of cost. They would not go out buying condoms despite knowing the obvious dangers,” said Anand Chandrani from Sarathi Trust that works among the LGBT population. He said that the populations that were being served by the NGOs who have shut down their projects may take up the HIV prevalence rate.
The District AIDS Prevention and Control Unit (DAPCU) programme officer Tanuja Fale acknowledges the role of the NGOs in reducing the infection rate spreading awareness. “We are aware of the temporary shortages of medicines and testing kits of the NGOs. There are extra provisions in the ART centres at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) and Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital (IGMCH) that they can make use of. If they take the patients there, they can also get additional facilities like check-ups and counselling,” she said.
It is difficult to keep up the morale of the on-ground staff since they are not getting salaries for some months now, said Varsha Pagale of Indian Institute of Youth Welfare (IIYW) who works with female sex workers. “TI population often doesn’t want to reveal their identities so they don’t prefer to take any treatment in public hospitals. ART centres are open only between 9am and noon which is not a very convenient window for most of them,” she said.
“Two months worth of expenses were given to the NGOs in September and the next instalment that has also been released to the state government will be given to them by February. State officials told us that due procedures need to be followed like verification of the statement of expenses before releasing the money,” said an official from Maharashtra State AIDS Control Society (MSACS). He added that they were told that they have to deal with several departments and files.
HIV CASES IN NAGPUR DISTRICT
YEAR --- NEW CASES* --- NEW MOTHERS**
2011-12 --- 1.644 --- 0.305
2012-13 --- 0.616 --- 0.174
2013-14 --- 0.117 --- 0.206
2014-15 --- 0.006 --- 0.123
2015-16 --- 0.09 --- 0.102
* -- as percentage of the total affected population
** -- percentage of pregnant women found HIV positive during ante-natal testing
NGOs battling shortage of kits