Our Vision:
To pioneer affordable treatment and rehabilitation that make a difference in the lives of those affected by alcohol/drug addictions and those living with HIV/AIDS and also reduce stigma associated with these conditions.
Our Mission:
Freedom Foundation will enhance access to quality health care &
treatment for people living with alcohol/drug abuse and/or HIV/AIDS through a commitment to increasing awareness, treatment, care, support, advocacy, expanded linkages &
networking and create a platform for best practice and cross learning.
Our Ethos:
FREEDOM To Think To Contemplate
To Do Something Constructive About Oneself To Change
To Live Life Positively
That in essence is our approach At Freedom Foundation
From the CEO’s desk:
Dear Friends ,
Welcome to this issue of the Freedom Foundations annual report (2009/10)
I believe that this annual report will help you all connect to the Freedom Foundation community at large and vice versa.
2009/10 has been a very challenging year for the Foundation; while the beginning of the year saw the Foundation reach an all time high in terms of its reach and beneficiaries, towards the end of 2009 also saw a drastic scaling down of our operations, many initiatives had to be closed due to the paucity of funds and changes at the policy level of some of our donors, added to this was the global rescission and its impact on donors and philanthropy.
While various challenging management and administrative decisions were made at the Foundation, the implementation of many of these was rather hard since these had to be in accordance with the ethical and social responsibility the Foundation has to all beneficiaries. While many projects had no financial permissibility of operations, the Foundation was committed to ensuring that our beneficiaries were not left in the lurch. All essential services were operational resulting in mounting deficit of funds.
We have taken a step back to re-evaluate our strategies, and learn from our experiences, while our commitment to the vision and mission is as clear as ever, we now believe that there is a need to develop more self sustaining initiatives. While we are on the threshold of piloting a few such initiatives, It is going to be a challenge since the sector and the communities that the Foundation focuses on will need a lot of hand holding before the possibility of self sustenance is demonstrated.
The year 2009/10 also saw a subtle but definite shift in the role of civil society in combating the issues of HIV/AIDS, Addiction, and poverty. Due to further changes in the national strategies and highly restrictive budgets of various government schemes and some donor grants, it has become next to impossible to provide quality support to our beneficiaries through Government / donor sponsored schemes. The Foundation took a decision to withdraw from all Government schemes for now.
While we are of the firm opinion that working with national and state governments is imperative; we wish to wait for a more conducive environment to facilitate the same.
One of the reasons for the mounting financial deficits is the paradox of being committed to providing all necessary services to our communities in need and the lack of financial resources due to a major donor withdrawing support. The Foundation never had a corpus for operating expenses to tide over such lean periods. We are now committed that with your support we would be able to build a corpus fund in the months to come.
I take this opportunity to thank all our donors and well wishers for their ongoing support and contributions
The management would like to place on record its appreciation to the resilience and commitment that many of our staff and beneficiaries have demonstrated during this highly challenging period. As you go through this report you will read and see the trauma of separation due to the closure of some of our initiatives as demonstrated by the experiences of beneficiaries, staff, and well wishers
.
I do hope that the successes and failures of the various stories and narratives in this thought provoking report would inspire all of you as it has for us at the Foundation to work harder at achieving our collective vision and mission.
I am confident that our collective motivation would ensure that our beneficiaries are never deprived of the necessary support that is needed. I hope that you too would be part of the legacy of the Freedom Foundation
We look forward to your valuable feedback, support and contributions.
Wishing all of you the very best With Warmest Regards Dr. Ashok K. Rau Executive Trustee & CEO
“When you do nothing, you feel overwhelmed and powerless. But when you get involved, you feel the sense of hope and accomplishment that comes from knowing you are working to make things better.” ... Author unknown
What did we do in 2009?
By all standards the year 2009 must have seen the extremes of highs and lows for the Freedom Foundation. In 2009, the Foundation had services spread across 10 districts in south India and had dynamic programmes catering to the needs of thousands of people living with HIV/AIDS. On the down side, early 2010 was the time when some of our care centres had to close down due to the fact that tenure of the grant had come to an end. It is also the year where Freedom Foundation decided to take a step back and re-think it’s strategies and scope of work.
What was the impact we created?
Comprehensive care and support for People living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV): The Foundation’s strength has always been that it has stuck to it’s vision to serve. PLHIV have been the main beneficiaries.
In 2009-2010, the Foundation has through the various care centres reached out to 36500 PLHIV for provision of comprehensive care.
Till April 2010, the care centres were situated in Bangalore, Bellary, Udupi (the three in state of Karnataka), Secunderabad (in the state of Andhra Pradesh), Chennai (in the state of Tamil Nadu) and Goa – which received funding from the state AIDS control societies. In addition under the Global Fund round 4, there were centres running at Guntur, Kakinada (the two in Andhra Pradesh), Trichi (in Tamil Nadu) and Bagalkot (in Karnataka).
The services at the centre comprise: Medical consultation, In- patient care, Diagnostics, Counselling, Palliative care and HIV related awareness.
All medical services for PLHIV have been provided free of cost at the care centres.
Awareness Program at Hindustan Unilever Pvt. Ltd.,
Graph 1: No. PLHIV that received care services in 2009-2010
What are we doing for greater access to Highly active anti- retroviral treatment (HAART)?
The HAART program of the foundation began in the year 2000 when the Foundation decided to reach out to children and single parents living with HIV. HAART refers to a cocktail of medicines which are given to PLHIV in-order to keep the virus under control and thus keep the immune system of the person intact. The program in the year 2004 got a big opportunity to work alongside other NGOs and the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) to expand the HAART program and thus reach out to more PLHIV. This was made possible through funds from the Global Fund for AIDS TB and Malaria (GFATM – round 2), which came to a close in April 2009 and since then the Foundation has been running the operations on it’s own.
The HAART program at FF is based on a cost recovery model where the Foundation procures the medicines from pharmaceutical companies at discount and passes on the same to patients.
Currently the program runs at both Bangalore and Secunderabad.
The out-patient facility of the Foundation from where this program runs also has a laboratory attached. Diagnostics relevant to HIV care is done at the laboratory (CD-4 counts, various bio-chemistry and microbiology tests). The laboratory is registered for External Quality Control Schemes in-order to ensure accuracy of the reports.
There are approximately 3000 PLHIV accessing HAART through this program.
Collaboration with Drexel College of Medicine:
Freedom Foundation is still working closely with the Drexel College of Medicine (DCM)-USA. Currently the institutions are working on joint publications. Also DCM has come forward to strengthen the laboratory infrastructure. The laboratory now has a -20 degree storage facility and a laminar flow hood. In addition, DCM has been helping with some of the running costs at the out-patient clinic.
Freedom Foundation’s Child Care Program:
The child care initiative at Freedom Foundation was initiated due to the need that existed in the 1990s. There were many adults at the time who expressed their dying wish to have Freedom Foundation take care of their children as their own relatives would not (due to the misconceptions regarding HIV). From then till now, the 0
5000 10000 15000 20000
5399
13521
18920
4498
13100
17598
State AIDS Cell supported
Global Fund Round 4 Supported
Graph 1: No. PLHIV that received care services in 2009-2010
What are we doing for greater access to Highly active anti- retroviral treatment (HAART)?
The HAART program of the foundation began in the year 2000 when the Foundation decided to reach out to children and single parents living with HIV. HAART refers to a cocktail of medicines which are given to PLHIV in-order to keep the virus under control and thus keep the immune system of the person intact. The program in the year 2004 got a big opportunity to work alongside other NGOs and the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) to expand the HAART program and thus reach out to more PLHIV. This was made possible through funds from the Global Fund for AIDS TB and Malaria (GFATM – round 2), which came to a close in April 2009 and since then the Foundation has been running the operations on it’s own.
The HAART program at FF is based on a cost recovery model where the Foundation procures the medicines from pharmaceutical companies at discount and passes on the same to patients.
Currently the program runs at both Bangalore and Secunderabad.
The out-patient facility of the Foundation from where this program runs also has a laboratory attached. Diagnostics relevant to HIV care is done at the laboratory (CD-4 counts, various bio-chemistry and microbiology tests). The laboratory is registered for External Quality Control Schemes in-order to ensure accuracy of the reports.
There are approximately 3000 PLHIV accessing HAART through this program.
Collaboration with Drexel College of Medicine:
Freedom Foundation is still working closely with the Drexel College of Medicine (DCM)-USA. Currently the institutions are working on joint publications. Also DCM has come forward to strengthen the laboratory infrastructure. The laboratory now has a -20 degree storage facility and a laminar flow hood. In addition, DCM has been helping with some of the running costs at the out-patient clinic.
Freedom Foundation’s Child Care Program:
The child care initiative at Freedom Foundation was initiated due to the need that existed in the 1990s. There were many adults at the time who expressed their dying wish to have Freedom Foundation take care of their children as their own relatives would not (due to the misconceptions regarding HIV). From then till now, the State AIDS Cell
supported
Global Fund Round 4 Supported
Graph 1: No. PLHIV that received care services in 2009-2010
What are we doing for greater access to Highly active anti- retroviral treatment (HAART)?
The HAART program of the foundation began in the year 2000 when the Foundation decided to reach out to children and single parents living with HIV. HAART refers to a cocktail of medicines which are given to PLHIV in-order to keep the virus under control and thus keep the immune system of the person intact. The program in the year 2004 got a big opportunity to work alongside other NGOs and the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) to expand the HAART program and thus reach out to more PLHIV. This was made possible through funds from the Global Fund for AIDS TB and Malaria (GFATM – round 2), which came to a close in April 2009 and since then the Foundation has been running the operations on it’s own.
The HAART program at FF is based on a cost recovery model where the Foundation procures the medicines from pharmaceutical companies at discount and passes on the same to patients.
Currently the program runs at both Bangalore and Secunderabad.
The out-patient facility of the Foundation from where this program runs also has a laboratory attached. Diagnostics relevant to HIV care is done at the laboratory (CD-4 counts, various bio-chemistry and microbiology tests). The laboratory is registered for External Quality Control Schemes in-order to ensure accuracy of the reports.
There are approximately 3000 PLHIV accessing HAART through this program.
Collaboration with Drexel College of Medicine:
Freedom Foundation is still working closely with the Drexel College of Medicine (DCM)-USA. Currently the institutions are working on joint publications. Also DCM has come forward to strengthen the laboratory infrastructure. The laboratory now has a -20 degree storage facility and a laminar flow hood. In addition, DCM has been helping with some of the running costs at the out-patient clinic.
Freedom Foundation’s Child Care Program:
The child care initiative at Freedom Foundation was initiated due to the need that existed in the 1990s. There were many adults at the time who expressed their dying wish to have Freedom Foundation take care of their children as their own relatives would not (due to the misconceptions regarding HIV). From then till now, the
Foundation believes that as far as possible, a child should stay with it’s family as that is the most natural safe environment for the child.
It is only when relatives of the child show no interest in taking care of the child, that we admit the child for residential care.
The Foundation today runs two child care centres – Positive kids (at Bangalore) and Diya (at Secunderabad). Between the two centres, we care for 50 HIV +ve orphans. The homes cater to all the needs of the children (treatment, education, nutrition, extra- curricular activities). All of this is done within an environment of love and care.
Reaching out to children in the community:
In the early years, we at the Foundation realized that HIV/AIDS was causing a role reversal. When the adults in the family were being weakened by the disease, the burden of becoming care givers was falling on the children. The oldest child in the family was often dropping out of school in-order to look after the parents or to earn the livelihood for the family. This was also leading to increase in child labour and would also pave the way for other social evils if not dealt with effectively. What we also noticed was that even amongst the children who continued schooling, very often they were dealing with starvation. This made it extremely difficult for the child to do well in studies.
These experiences gave way to the food and education assistance program. With the help form the Churches Council for Youth and Child Care & Kinder Not Hilfe, Freedom Foundation today reaches
out to hundreds of children in the community. These children are either orphaned, living with their guardians or have parents who are HIV +ve and come from economically poor families.
The aim is to see that the children complete high school and where possible go on to complete their graduation or otherwise go in for vocational training.
The looming threat: In 2009, we had the biggest setback in our child care program. The children at our Hyderabad unit were sent away from school with their ‘transfer certificates’ (TC). This decision was taken by the school board based on the objections from the parents of the other children. Despite all efforts to convince the school board, the children were forced to stay out. Freedom Foundation held media campaigns and also had people from the state AIDS cell and the education department speak up regarding the children’s right to education and also explain the fact that HIV +ve children are not a threat to the other children at school.
However these efforts did nothing to sway the school board. For months, the children had to stay at home. Finally one school run by the “Operation Mobilization” ministries has taken in a few of the children. We need to find schools that will take in the remaining children.
During this trying time, it has been our volunteers who have stepped up and started home tutoring the children.
Volunteer Get-to-gather program
What has been done for Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV?
It was in 1998 that we had our first case of a pregnant woman with HIV. The chances of transmission of HIV from mother to child are very high – nearly 40% if appropriate measures are not taken.
Despite having no funds, the Foundation decided that every step would be taken to ensure that another baby would not have to live with HIV. In 2001, Freedom Foundation was amongst 4 NGOs that formed a consortium to apply for a grant from the Elizabeth Glaser Paediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF). This grant enabled the Foundation to scale up it’s PMTCT activities.
The services provided under this program are HIV testing for pregnant women, medicines that reduce transmission of HIV (given to HIV +ve mother and new born baby), HIV testing for the baby, long term follow-up for mother and baby. The program also encourages the father to get involved in the process and he is provided with testing, counselling and medical services as well.
Initially the Foundation like it’s consortium partners provided services directly at the hospitals. However, now in-order to increase the number of women and babies reached, efforts are on to spread out to more hospitals and educate doctors regarding availability of services. This leads to more number of HIV +ve pregnant mothers being referred for services.
Through these interventions, we have managed to prevent HIV transmission to 97% of the babies born.
Number of pregnant women reached with testing
Number of pregnant HIV +ve women provided with services
14892 106
Our work with substance abuse / chemical dependency:
Contrary to popular belief, addiction to alcohol and drugs is not based on the morals or the mental resolve of a person. It is actually a disorder that is caused by chemical imbalances in the body. When persons with these chemical imbalances take alcohol or drugs, they get a sense of fulfilment. As they continue to seek such fulfilment, they get more dependent on these substances and that is how they get addicted. Substance abuse is not determined by age, social class, wealth or education.
Freedom Foundation’s de-addiction problem recognises this disorder and acknowledges that addiction can-not be dealt with solely through medicines. It requires a change in thinking, in life
Inauguration of PMTCT in St. Philomena's
Hospital World AIDS Day 2009
style, it requires a person to acknowledge that he/she requires help and requires a steely determination to comply with the program.
In 2009-10, the Foundation admitted 157 people to the de- addiction centre. There has been a recovery rate of 57% at the centre.
CELEBRATIONS OF FESTIVALS AT FREEDOM FOUNDATION
Words are plentiful; deeds are precious. -- Lech Walesa Success Stories
The community takes over the running of our out-patient clinic at Siruguppa: This place is located near Bellary and has a high prevalence of HIV in the community. Freedom Foundation in 2001 with a grant from the Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society (KSAPS) had initiated a counselling centre and weekly medical camps for PLHIV in that region. It was a robust program that looked at community education regarding HIV/AIDS and focussed on prevention alongside medical care. However once the funding came to an end in 2002, keeping the clinic running was a constant struggle.
Sometime ago a local businessman Mr. Kiran Jain heard about Freedom Foundation’s activities and visited the clinic at Siruguppa.
He understood the implication that having a high prevalence of HIV in the area would mean that more and more youth would get infected and die of AIDS. With this background, he agreed to start helping with the monthly running expenditure and also motivated 5 other business men in the community to come forward. Now these gentlemen take turns every month to cover the running expenses at the centre.
The Siruguppa Munciplity also came forward to donate medicines which are distributed to the patients.
“The darkest clouds often bring the heaviest showers of blessing” ... Author unknown
A few months ago, Ravi (name changed) came to Bagalkot care centre to donate 36 kgs of jaggery. He was well turned out and looked healthy and happy. Just a few months earlier however, he had been a distressed and sick patient. What caused this change?
When Ravi first came to the centre, he was in severe distress and had behavioural problems. He had recently been diagnosed with HIV and was having a lot of difficulty coming to terms with this. At our centre, Ravi’s agitation worsened and further investigations revealed that he had cryptococcal meningitis (a life threatening fungal infection). Once he was stable, using real-life case studies, he was counselled on the importance of routine health checks and on dealing with opportunistic infections. The staff at the centre saw a slow but definite shift in his attitude and behaviour. He started taking responsibility for his treatment and medication. The true test of his resolve was seen when he participated at a state-level cultural event for PLHIV. He was part of a team that went on to win the second prize at the event. This gave him immense joy and motivation. He is currently working on his farm growing sugarcane and vegetables, something he never thought he would have the energy or will power to do.
“What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.” ...Albert Pike
You have helped us make a difference:
None of what we do as care providers would be possible without the involvement of our well wishers. As individuals or as part of a group, these people have held hands with us during the good times and the bad and have prodded us to move on. We use this annual report as a platform from which we express our gratitude to each and everyone who has contributed their time or money to Freedom Foundation.
Some of the corporate supporters of Freedom Foundation have been:
Philips, HSBC, Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, Thomson Reuters, KPMG, Dell, HSBC software, Humeri Tarian Did Foundation, Joyce Mayer Ministries, Osmania Medical College, Waldorf
Support from Institutions or registered bodies:
Churches Council for Youth and Child Care & Kinder NotHilfe, Overseas Women’s Club, Lions Club of Bangalore, The Inner Wheel Club of Bangalore, Rotary Club of ___, NACO and the State AIDS Cells, Global Fund for AIDS TB and Malaria.
Support from Individuals:
Name of Donor Name of Donor Name of Donor Name of Donor
Wilson K.Shashi Mr.Balamurugan World Maid Flesh
Mohan R Bhat Mr.Abraham Mr.Srishail Chari Madras Cements Ltd
Mrs.S.Eapen K.Shashi Pt.Roshan Prakasam
Sai Varadraj Mr.Guru M/S.Kf Trust Prasanna
Indus International
School Mr.Shrihail Chari Mr.Sankar Renganayagi
D.Basavraj
Hunnur,Bagalkot Mr.Raju.A.T Mr.Vijay
Narasimha Shelter Trust Dr.D.Nageshwar
Rao (Mamta Scan
Centre) Mr.Jaganath Prasad Mr. J Ravi Aksaya
Home Nalmanam
Surya Medicals Mr.Deepak Mr. Prakasam Lakshman
Pavan Computer Reena Kolekar Dinesh Helping Hands
Foundation Mr.A.S.Dalvai Mr.Abraham Fr. Biju Mathew Tansacs
K.Basavraj Nayaz,Srinivas Laskshman Prasanna
S.L.Patil, Bagalkot Niranjan Gudipathi Thangam Oasis India Ganapati Rao Chetan Tiwari Moi Lee Liow Mr.S.Mohan Kumar Suneetha
Enterprises
Mr.Nitin
Rajagopalan Raju
Mr.Shideyaldlce Ms.Arathi Mr.Gopikrishana Sri Ram & Co. Iswariya Dr.Elizanmbi
Mr.Jay Lee &
Mr.Arun Prasad Lions Club Madras Gopal Nice Foundation
Rohan Nigam
Radhika
Family Planning Assoc.
Mahila Action Mr.Umesh Sundram
Mahalaxmi Nalmanam
Indo Global Sss Neeru Morraku Dhandapani Varalaxmi Samraksha Mr.Sardar Nirmal
Singh Ravi & Shelter
Trust Mrs. Julie
A.M.P.K.Puri
Atcane Khosnoud
Faming Anu Nath Dr.Evita Fernandes
A.Vijay Kumar Bethapudi David Jagannath
Mahapati Dr.Sathish Reddy Adity Bose CDR Kondath K.Adbhutha Rao E.Mar Caren
Amala Akkineni D.Kishore K.G.Subadra G.Mar Reddy
Andra Rao Dhanunj K.S.Rao G.Rajkumari
Ane Johnren -
Waldorf Dinesh Krishnaveni G.V.Padmavathi
K.Srinivas K.V.Srikrishna Reddy Dinesh Geetha Thoopal
IHMP Mr.Shivakumar Mala Kailu Selvi
Lakshmi Shanker M.Pandian Mallesh Mathem Joseph
Leela Kondath M.Reddy Mar Reddy Monica Vasudev
Lt Col Rajesh Rai Mahathi Singh Prema Rao
N.Hari kumar (Deloitte) P.Maheswar Rao P.Viswanath R.Srinivasn Rtn.D.N. Gauri P.Munappa PB Bhavani Prasad R.V.K.Rajan S.Balakrishnan P.Vinay Kumar Prashanth Yadav Ramachandra
Reddy S.Gourishanker
Sirisha Narayanan T.Rajani Y.Abhilash Mr.Capt.M. Gaffer Name Of Donor Name Of Donor Name Of Donor Name Of Donor Concern Universal
Foundation Ms.Sukrithi Kumari Avinash Chemist &
Druggist Rajan
Elangovan Ratnakar Anchan District Rotrat Org
Elite Matric Higher School
Anandha Raman Mahesh
Nand Kishore
Bhatia Hands Foundation
Akshya Homes Madhava La Calypso Hotels
Pvt Ltd Ravi
Partha Sarathy Praveenkumar Alexandra Tourist
Centre Sumathi Chinnarani
& Mathews Balraj
Dos Mohammed Hassim Rahul Salgaonkar
Lakshman &
Prasanna
Anuradha Harish Karbo Konkani Tiat Navi Kiran
Sri Rangammal Umesh Shetty
Jeevan Community
Centre Lalitha Hegde
Sundar Shausan Chandar Albert Nagaeth Mr. Bharathi
Babu Rahman Francis D'souza Shankar Shetty
Lorethe Sanhago &
Prasanna Sujith J Salyan Cyril Pinto YMCA
Murali Sudhakar
DS Max Properties
Ltd Santhosh Kumar
Ravi Surya Kiran
Developers Zion Charitable
Trust Ganesh
Super Natural Dreams
Surya Kiran Developers
Vas Medical &
Equips &
Diognostic B.M Nagaraj Veera & Gopi Surya Kiran Sri Venkateshwara Surya Kiran
Developers Surgical Developers Akshya Homes Surya Kiran
Developers
SDS
Pharmaceutical &
Sai Pharma Surya Kiran Developers Gautham Chand
Surya Kiran Developers
Mr. Rajagopalan Janaki Corporation Ltd
Shelter Trust Mr. Bikaram Ji
Mr.Kumar Swamy Prop Kumar Egg
Bank & Corporator Suzanna Hong Mr. Rahul Kavlekar
Mr. Narahari Reddy Bellary
Bellary Christan
Chaitnya Welfare Mallikarjuna Gowda Mr. Yeregowda Mr. Allabaksh
Bikaram Ji Mr.Kiran Kumar Jain Mr. Bansilal Jain Mr. Chunilal Arya Mr. Navarathnmal
Jain Manjunatha
Mr. B.M.Nagaraj Mr. Murari Reddy
Mr.Narayan Swamy
Mr. Ashok Narasimha Swamy
Rice Mill Mrs & Mr. Dangi
Ms.Madhuri Mrs. Kalyani Divakar Ms.Usha B.R Mrs.Yashodamma
.V.N Ms.Jayashree Dr.Raju A.T
Mr.Thomas Manil
Rego Ms.Tiki Nelson
Ms.A.V.
Radhalakshmi
Mr.Mohan Kumar
Mr.Hyder Ali Mr.Sanjay G Mr.Y.N.Santosh Ms.Sailaja Meka Mr.P L N Swamy
Mr.Reddeppa Reddy
Ms.N. Meenakshi Ms.Sushma Reddy
Rajashree R Naik Mr.M.Ganga Raju
Mr.Alok Ghosh Mr.J.Srinivasa Raju S.S.Rama Raju R K Naik Gopi Krishna Umesh Deoraj
T.Sitarama Shashtri Saathi Sai Sandeep Sri Vastav T.Sreedhar Reddy Y.Abhilash
Satya Jaya Raman Sudha Govthi Venu Y.Shashikala
To Each And Every One Of Our Supporters, We Say THANK YOU
Access to Care and Treatment (ACT) Project Funders: Global Fund for AIDS TB and Malaria (round 4)
Current status: Closed
The Global Fund Round 4 HIV/AIDS program in India contributes to the global "3-by-5" initiative launched by WHO/UNAIDS. The Global Fund Round 4 Program was a public-private sector partnership of which Freedom Foundation was one of the partners. As of 2010 April, Freedom Foundation’s role in this program comes to an end.
The principal recipient of the Round 4 HIV component fund in India is NACO (at the public sector level) and Population Foundation of India (PFI, for the NGO and private sector). The PFI lead an NGO- private sector consortium which comprised the Indian Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS (INP+), Freedom Foundation (FF), Engender Health Society (EHS) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Of the pHAARTners, INP+ and FF were responsible for providing care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV).
The Implementation arrangement:
The table below briefly outlines the responsibilities undertaken by the partners in project ACT.
Activities Agencies
Program and grants management
Monitoring and evaluation
Population Foundation of India
District-level networks (DLN) Treatment counseling centre (TCC)
Positive living centre (PLC)
Indian Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS (INP+)
Comprehensive Care & Support Services (CCSC)
Freedom Foundation (FF) Capacity-building Engender Health Society (EHS) HAART Services at Corporate
Sector Health facilities ,Health Smart Card Feasibility Study
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
As part of it’s endeavour to reach out to PLHIV who found it difficult to access health care, FF decided to rapidly scale up care services in high and medium prevalence districts in south India. The prior experience of the Foundation in providing comprehensive care and setting up community care centres came handy. By specifically taking into account the needs of the PLHV patients, ACT obtained the advantage available from a seamless customization process. Centres were set up in Bagalkot (in Karnataka), Guntur &
Kakinada (in Andhra Pradesh) & Trichy (in Tamilnadu). The manner in which the communities responded, in a record time provided clear evidence that there was a gap in the existing services, which was bridged by the Foundation.
Apart from the various opportunistic infections and the HAART initiation/ follow-up cases seen at the centres, one of the major service delivery areas for these care centres were that they were able to provide palliative care. The care & support centres were in areas where there was no other HIV care provider. Families required external support in-order to be able to provide end of life care for their loved ones and to ensure that their quality of life was retained as far as possible.
Palliative Care details
Guntur Trichy Bagalkot Kakinada Total No. Palliative care
provided 7143 862 270 164 8439
62.8% of cases admitted at CCSCs required palliative care.
During the initial years of setting up CCSCs, there was a backlog of the clients requiring intensive & palliative care.
A total of 18516 PLHIV were registered for services.
Of this 7287 were on HAART through the government program
District-level networks (DLN) Treatment counseling centre (TCC)
Positive living centre (PLC)
Indian Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS (INP+)
Comprehensive Care & Support Services (CCSC)
Freedom Foundation (FF) Capacity-building Engender Health Society (EHS) HAART Services at Corporate
Sector Health facilities ,Health Smart Card Feasibility Study
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
As part of it’s endeavour to reach out to PLHIV who found it difficult to access health care, FF decided to rapidly scale up care services in high and medium prevalence districts in south India. The prior experience of the Foundation in providing comprehensive care and setting up community care centres came handy. By specifically taking into account the needs of the PLHV patients, ACT obtained the advantage available from a seamless customization process. Centres were set up in Bagalkot (in Karnataka), Guntur &
Kakinada (in Andhra Pradesh) & Trichy (in Tamilnadu). The manner in which the communities responded, in a record time provided clear evidence that there was a gap in the existing services, which was bridged by the Foundation.
Apart from the various opportunistic infections and the HAART initiation/ follow-up cases seen at the centres, one of the major service delivery areas for these care centres were that they were able to provide palliative care. The care & support centres were in areas where there was no other HIV care provider. Families required external support in-order to be able to provide end of life care for their loved ones and to ensure that their quality of life was retained as far as possible.
Palliative Care details
Guntur Trichy Bagalkot Kakinada Total No. Palliative care
provided 7143 862 270 164 8439
62.8% of cases admitted at CCSCs required palliative care.
During the initial years of setting up CCSCs, there was a backlog of the clients requiring intensive & palliative care.
10000 20003000 40005000 60007000
Guntur Trichy Bagalkot
ART 4588 727 1373
Non-ART 6527 1149 2778
No. of Registered Benificiaries
No. of Beneficiaries Registered at CCSCs
41.3
% 58.7
%
38.8
%
33.1 61.2 %
%
66.9
%
A total of 18516 PLHIV were registered for services.
Of this 7287 were on HAART through the government program
District-level networks (DLN) Treatment counseling centre (TCC)
Positive living centre (PLC)
Indian Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS (INP+)
Comprehensive Care & Support Services (CCSC)
Freedom Foundation (FF) Capacity-building Engender Health Society (EHS) HAART Services at Corporate
Sector Health facilities ,Health Smart Card Feasibility Study
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
As part of it’s endeavour to reach out to PLHIV who found it difficult to access health care, FF decided to rapidly scale up care services in high and medium prevalence districts in south India. The prior experience of the Foundation in providing comprehensive care and setting up community care centres came handy. By specifically taking into account the needs of the PLHV patients, ACT obtained the advantage available from a seamless customization process. Centres were set up in Bagalkot (in Karnataka), Guntur &
Kakinada (in Andhra Pradesh) & Trichy (in Tamilnadu). The manner in which the communities responded, in a record time provided clear evidence that there was a gap in the existing services, which was bridged by the Foundation.
Apart from the various opportunistic infections and the HAART initiation/ follow-up cases seen at the centres, one of the major service delivery areas for these care centres were that they were able to provide palliative care. The care & support centres were in areas where there was no other HIV care provider. Families required external support in-order to be able to provide end of life care for their loved ones and to ensure that their quality of life was retained as far as possible.
Palliative Care details
Guntur Trichy Bagalkot Kakinada Total No. Palliative care
provided 7143 862 270 164 8439
62.8% of cases admitted at CCSCs required palliative care.
During the initial years of setting up CCSCs, there was a backlog of the clients requiring intensive & palliative care.
Bagalkot Kakinad 1373 599a
2778 775
No. of Beneficiaries Registered at CCSCs
66.9
%
56.4 43.6 %
%
A total of 18516 PLHIV were registered for services.
Of this 7287 were on HAART through the government program
Pre HAART work up & post HAART monitoring:
Every client who registered in CCSC had been screened for the HAART initiation criteria. Clients who registered in centre had facilitated by staff for all the basic assessment of health condition and clinical history to screen the HAHAART initiation. If the client falls in criteria to start HAART client the preparedness done and if not provide them basic necessaries to follow on. There were many clients came to admit to manage and observe the Post HAARTside effects and Opportunistic infections.
The other salient features were:
Evolution of an effective Outreach Strategy:The outreach activities of FF was developed in coordination and consultation with the local stake holders and nodal agencies. Thereby a clear demarcated geographical area was assigned to FF. The focus was on strengthening the and abiding by the principles of NACP III (National AIDS Control Program). The out reach worker was responsible for interacting with PLHIV and introducing concepts of positive living, prevention of transmission, treatment education and importance of follow-up.
Telephonic interactions and home visit approaches were used byFF.
Treatment Adherence Groups:
TAG a promising practice at the FF care centres were initiated with the objective of supporting and enhancing the adherence to HAART by PLHIV. This gave a unique blend of both PLHAs on HAART for a long time with clients newly put on HAART. The positive
reinforcement and mutual sharing of experiences contributed to the group cohesiveness, and there by leading to better adherence.TAG also provided platform for health education and learning.
Final Closure of projects:
Despite all efforts to continue the functioning of the care centres under GFATM-4, FF’s bid for an extension was un-successful. The projects had to wind down as there
was no source for resource generation. The closure process was in accordance to the requirements stipulated by PFI.
It was not just the Foundation, but also the PLHIV who were heartbroken to know about the closure.
“Cowardice asks the question: is it safe? Expediency asks the question: is it politic? Vanity asks the question: is it popular? But conscience asks the question: is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular- but one must take it simply because it is right.” Martin Luther King Jr. 1929-1968
What is the way forward for 2010 – 2011?
Since 2009, Freedom Foundation has been undergoing a process of change. It has become very evident through the years that running Pre HAART work up & post HAART monitoring:
Every client who registered in CCSC had been screened for the HAART initiation criteria. Clients who registered in centre had facilitated by staff for all the basic assessment of health condition and clinical history to screen the HAHAART initiation. If the client falls in criteria to start HAART client the preparedness done and if not provide them basic necessaries to follow on. There were many clients came to admit to manage and observe the Post HAARTside effects and Opportunistic infections.
The other salient features were:
Evolution of an effective Outreach Strategy:The outreach activities of FF was developed in coordination and consultation with the local stake holders and nodal agencies. Thereby a clear demarcated geographical area was assigned to FF. The focus was on strengthening the and abiding by the principles of NACP III (National AIDS Control Program). The out reach worker was responsible for interacting with PLHIV and introducing concepts of positive living, prevention of transmission, treatment education and importance of follow-up.
Telephonic interactions and home visit approaches were used byFF.
Treatment Adherence Groups:
TAG a promising practice at the FF care centres were initiated with the objective of supporting and enhancing the adherence to HAART by PLHIV. This gave a unique blend of both PLHAs on HAART for a long time with clients newly put on HAART. The positive
reinforcement and mutual sharing of experiences contributed to the group cohesiveness, and there by leading to better adherence.TAG also provided platform for health education and learning.
Final Closure of projects:
Despite all efforts to continue the functioning of the care centres under GFATM-4, FF’s bid for an extension was un-successful. The projects had to wind down as there
was no source for resource generation. The closure process was in accordance to the requirements stipulated by PFI.
It was not just the Foundation, but also the PLHIV who were heartbroken to know about the closure.
“Cowardice asks the question: is it safe? Expediency asks the question: is it politic? Vanity asks the question: is it popular? But conscience asks the question: is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular- but one must take it simply because it is right.” Martin Luther King Jr. 1929-1968
What is the way forward for 2010 – 2011?
Since 2009, Freedom Foundation has been undergoing a process of change. It has become very evident through the years that running Pre HAART work up & post HAART monitoring:
Every client who registered in CCSC had been screened for the HAART initiation criteria. Clients who registered in centre had facilitated by staff for all the basic assessment of health condition and clinical history to screen the HAHAART initiation. If the client falls in criteria to start HAART client the preparedness done and if not provide them basic necessaries to follow on. There were many clients came to admit to manage and observe the Post HAARTside effects and Opportunistic infections.
The other salient features were:
Evolution of an effective Outreach Strategy:The outreach activities of FF was developed in coordination and consultation with the local stake holders and nodal agencies. Thereby a clear demarcated geographical area was assigned to FF. The focus was on strengthening the and abiding by the principles of NACP III (National AIDS Control Program). The out reach worker was responsible for interacting with PLHIV and introducing concepts of positive living, prevention of transmission, treatment education and importance of follow-up.
Telephonic interactions and home visit approaches were used byFF.
Treatment Adherence Groups:
TAG a promising practice at the FF care centres were initiated with the objective of supporting and enhancing the adherence to HAART by PLHIV. This gave a unique blend of both PLHAs on HAART for a long time with clients newly put on HAART. The positive
reinforcement and mutual sharing of experiences contributed to the group cohesiveness, and there by leading to better adherence.TAG also provided platform for health education and learning.
Final Closure of projects:
Despite all efforts to continue the functioning of the care centres under GFATM-4, FF’s bid for an extension was un-successful. The projects had to wind down as there
was no source for resource generation. The closure process was in accordance to the requirements stipulated by PFI.
It was not just the Foundation, but also the PLHIV who were heartbroken to know about the closure.
“Cowardice asks the question: is it safe? Expediency asks the question: is it politic? Vanity asks the question: is it popular? But conscience asks the question: is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular- but one must take it simply because it is right.” Martin Luther King Jr. 1929-1968
What is the way forward for 2010 – 2011?
Since 2009, Freedom Foundation has been undergoing a process of change. It has become very evident through the years that running
projects based entirely on funding available, is not feasible and in the long run it robs the Foundation of its identity.
During the last few months of 2009, the management decided that it was time to take a hard and realistic look at our projects. It was clear that the centres that were not performing well had to close down. The closure of these centres is planned for mid 2010.
The fact that Freedom Foundation was not considered for the extension of care and support centres under the Global Fund round 4 also caused a lot of disappointment. These centres were robust and dynamic units that catered to very large number of patients.
Even though this was a very big setback to the Foundation, it further strengthened our resolve to start looking at self sustaining initiatives.
2010-11 will look at Freedom Foundation consolidating its operations in Bangalore & Hyderabad. The only centre that will run with KSAPS funding will be the one at Bellary.
The Foundation is in the process of trying out various strategies that will enable self sustenance.
The Foundation also plans to follow through on getting the ‘Fit Institution’ certificate from the Child Welfare Committee. This recognition is important as the centre continues to get referrals of children who need residential care.
2010-11 promises to be one of the most challenging years for the Foundation. From the time of its inception where the Foundation
faced many challenges, we seemed to have turned 360 degrees and are now back with facing issues of sustenance and creating an identity. Yet our vision of providing medical and psycho-social care to people from poor economic background is clear and we will forge ahead.
