Port Blair, Mar 16: Three days Capacity Building Programme on Programmatic Mapping & Population Size Estimation of High-Risk Groups (p-MPSE) and Targeted Intervention (TI) was conducted in A&N Islands from 09th March to 12th March 2022 by a team of five officials from the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, GoI New Delhi.
The participants were staff and officials from A&N AIDS Control Society (ANACS), from NGO, Jan LokKalyan Parishad (JKLP) of Jharkhand identified by ANACS and from the Department of Social Welfare.
Dr. Shobini Rajan, CMO/DDG (Targeted Intervention), NACO, New Delhi took feedback from the participants virtually and had a discussion with the Project Director on the National AIDS Control Program in the Islands.
The training was conducted under the guidance and leadership of Dr. M. Joy, Project Director, ANACS. The visit of the NACO Officials from 06th to 12th March 2022 was to understand the issues and concerns relating to the services provided under various facilities, review the prevention & basic service activities and progress made against the targets of 95-95-95.
Dr. Bhawani Singh, Deputy Director, (Target Intervention / Global Fund / Basic Service Division, Sentinel Surveillance), NACO presented an overview of the National AIDS and STI Control Programme (NACP) of the coming V phase, new strategies to be adopted, priority areas and on Sampoorna Suraksha. A virtual session on Sex, Gender and Sexuality was conducted for the participants directly from NACO, New Delhi. All program officers of ANACS presented an overview of the activities conducted under NACP in A & N Islands.
Mr. Prashant Kumar Patra, Technical Expert (Prison & Other Closed Settings), NACO presented an overview of the programme of Targeted intervention (TI), its components and activities. He also conducted sessions on the process and activities under Community Need Assessment (CNA) and usage of data collection.
Mr. Samresh Kumar, Program Officer (Target Intervention), NACO took sessions on counseling of high-risk groups (HRG) which includes FSW (Female Sex Worker), MSM (Men who have Sex with Men), IDUs (Injecting Drug Users) and H/TG (Hijra/Transgender) and also on couples counseling, counseling of migrant labours, discordant couples, and on adherence and positive prevention counseling.
Mr. Rahul Ahuja, Associate Consultant (Target Intervention), NACO took sessions on the importance of counseling & principles, confidentiality, risk assessment and risk reduction, stigma & Discrimination counseling, role & responsibilities and referral & linkages. He also took sessions on communication skills.
Dr. Akhilesh Srivastava, NACO, National Consultant (Mapping and Population Size Estimation) NACO, took sessions on an overview of Programmatic Mapping and Population Size Estimation (p-MPSE), preparation for p-MPSE, roles and responsibilities, data management, community engagement, ethics, confidentiality and respondent protection measures in MPSE.
The sessions were conducted through a power point presentation, role play, and group discussion.
A representative from NGO Jan Lok Kalyan Parishad, Pakur, Jharkhand attended the training for the implementation of Targeted Intervention in A&N Islands. Initially, the NGO will be conducting the needs assessment in a phase-wise manner focusing on the South Andaman district in the first phase.
Mapping and Population Size Estimation (MPSE) will be conducted for the high-risk group (HRG) which includes FSW (Female Sex Worker), MSM (Men who have Sex with Men), IDUs (Injecting Drug Users) and H/TG (Hijra/Transgender).
Earlier, the NACO team and the participants were welcomed by Dr. M. Joy, Project Director, ANACS. During the inauguration ceremony, the Official Website of ANACS was launched by Dr. M. Joy, Project Director, ANACS.
The website provides information about ANACS to individuals and organizations even in remote locations in a very cost-effective way. It can be upgraded and is editable. It provides links to useful websites. It also has a link to the website for the Ombudsman & Complaint Officer for Grievance Redressal under the HIV and AIDS Act 2017. ANACS Website – https://anacs.andaman.gov.in/
The valedictory function was graced by Dr. Munni Singhania, Director of Health Services (DHS), A&N Administration. Dr. Munni Singhania congratulated the participants for successfully completing the training. NACO team appreciated the implementation of the National AIDS Control Program in the Islands.The program was concluded with a vote of thanks proposed by Dr. Jahanara Yasmeen, DD (IEC)/ AD (TI).
