Home to the second largest number of people in the world now living with HIV and AIDS, India has a long way to go in ensuring the health and human rights of the poor and vulnerable. Poverty, gender inequalities, violence against women, trafficking, migration and disasters are all fuelling the epidemic.
While inadequate nutrition weakens the body, expensive medicines and poor government health systems make quality treatment out of reach for the majority, particularly in rural areas. Parents die in their prime and even orphaned children are not spared the stigma and discrimination that is often more vicious than the disease.
Recent years have seen a disturbing trend of rising new infections in women, young people and children, pointing to the epidemic spreading to the general population and in rural areas.
ActionAid is taking sides with the poorest, most affected and most vulnerable people in 12 states, using its 'Rights First' approach to confront and combat the AIDS threat. We are campaigning with the government, national and international agencies for better health facilities, medicines, treatment and care for the poorest and most excluded people. We work through partnerships with other NGOs, networks and community groups of positive people, sex workers, women, youth, sexuality minorities and children.
The focus of our work is on building capacities of people to face the epidemic by being aware and accessing all available information and services for prevention, treatment, care and support. Some of our projects also provide practical support for health, education and livelihood for the worst affected.
We believe in the greater and more meaningful involvement of people living with HIV and this reflects in our fellowship program. ActionAid provides fellowships to 25 positive people who have emerged as leaders through efforts at self development and community work.
Peer education through our in-house training program called Ripples of Learning is helping sex workers and positive people in our projects to deal with the epidemic, armed with practical knowledge and skills. Stepping Stones, ActionAid’s widely acclaimed tool for sustained behaviour change in communities is increasingly being implemented within and outside ActionAid.
