Global reinsurer, Swiss Re, has agreed to sponsor for two years the HIV education project in Mumbai under their Sharing Solutions programme. The education project is managed by a NGO, Project Concern International (PCI) and locally implemented by Committed Communities Development Trust (CCDT). It is for the first time that the Swiss reinsurer has agreed to sponsor a HIV related project worldwide.
The education project focuses on promoting HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention and support, as well as sustainable improvements to the overall health, economic and educational status of people in the Dharkhadi area north of Mumbai.
The Swiss Re sponsorship will fund a variety of initiatives, starting with a thorough needs assessment study to gather information on HIV awareness, health status, child care practices, water and sanitation systems, community organisation, economic activity and other facts. Findings will be used to design an integrated health and development project that can be sustained by the local population after the two-year sponsored project ends.
Under its Sharing Solutions programme, Swiss Re is a major supporter of initiatives fostering sustainable development. Supported projects range from efforts to expand drinking water supply in Brazil and Haiti, to piloting a programme for an International Water Management Course and data-gathering in Chinese hospitals to track health and mortality trends.
The Committed Communities Development Trust is a Mumbai-based organisation that started working with leprosy patients in Mumbai in 1990. CCDT has developed a strategy of networking with the government and non-government agencies to bring about an overall uplifting of economically disadvantaged groups. Today, it is active throughout greater Mumbai implementing health and social development programmes to target groups of leprosy sufferers, slum dwellers, sex workers and their families and those affected by HIV/AIDS.
"We are proud to be making a contribution to this international cooperative initiative to deliver practical interventions to minimise the spread of HIV in Mumbai and other areas," said Jean-Michel Chatagny, Member of the Life & Health Executive Board of Swiss Re. "Challenges presented by areas such as Dharkhadi can only be met through sustainable solutions that take a comprehensive view of issues affecting the life, health and economic situation of the population," he added.
In line with this focus on sustainability, a programme is planned for training of 200 health workers and 50 community promoters on HIV/AIDS and reproductive/primary health, who will help educate Dharkhadi residents. Also, the project will fund four informal education centres for children, as well as adult education and vocational training for women and adolescents A part-time doctor and clinic staff will also be installed to provide primary health care for up to 3,000 people.
This community is home for more than 10,000 people, many of whom arrived as migrants in the 1970s, seeking work in Mumbai. Problems faced by this community include over-crowding, a lack of basic amenities such as water, sanitation and electricity and limited access to schools, doctors and other formal health care. CCDT has worked with the community of Dharkhadi since 1994, adopting the Mumbai Municipal Corporation's health post to deliver primary health care as part of a programme of integrated health and education initiatives.
In addition, PCI will train CCDT teams on strategic planning and financial management so that this knowledge can be passed onto other CCDT beneficiary organisations involved in HIV/AIDS education, reproductive health, micro-enterprise development and community mobilisation.
Project Concern International is a 41 year-old global charitable organisation based in San Diego, USA. PCI provides support to vulnerable communities around the world, principally in healthcare and integrated development, targeting the needs of vulnerable women, children and families. A registered NGO in India since 1998, PCI gives technical and financial assistance to 12 Indian groups in seven states, reaching more than 232,000 people at risk of contracting AIDS. In New Delhi, for example, PCI assists homeless, orphaned children affected by AIDS. In Maharashtra, PCI provides people living with HIV/AIDS - health care, nutritional support, counselling and better life options by fostering micro-business opportunities. It has worked with CCDT since 1997.