India: increasing feminisation of HIV
In 2007, the Alliance completed a major initiative addressing the increasing feminisation of HIV in India. The project, funded by the UK Department for International Development, worked with 19 partners (including Alliance organisations Palmyrah Workers Development Society, Vasavya Mahila Mandali and Lepra Society) across six states: Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Manipur and Orissa.
The core aim of the project was to strengthen and develop community-centred approaches to meet the sexual and reproductive health needs (including HIV-related needs) of women in low-income settings. The project aimed to give women better access to health, social and legal support services by creating an increased demand for information and services and enhancing knowledge of HIV and sexual and reproductive health.
Given the short duration of the project (14 months), work particularly emphasised building the capacity of community members and non-governmental organisations to enable long-term sustainability and integration with other projects and initiatives.
The project reached 19,000 women, and one of its particular successes was highlighting the impact and scale of injecting drug use among women in Manipur.
