FHI - Supporting Locally Based, Family-Centered Care

Balasahyoga is funded by the Children's Investment Fund Foundation and the Elton John AIDS Foundation, in partnership with India's National AIDS Control Organization and the Andhra Pradesh State AIDS Control Society in 11 districts of the state. Through this funding, the program leverages the strengths of three highly respected public health organizations: FHI, which manages community-based services; the Clinton Foundation, which oversees government facility-based services; and CARE, which handles food security initiatives.

Although still in its first year, Balasahyoga has already begun producing results. In June 2008, an article about a mother and her daughters who were helped by the program was featured in The Global AIDSLink, a publication produced by the Global Health Council. More recently, FHI facilitated another Balasahyoga success—that of Aravind, an infant with HIV infection, and his parents, both also living with HIV.

Aravind was born at home in a remote village in Andhra Pradesh, and did not receive special care until a local NGO and FHI implementing agency for the Balasahyoga program, the Vimala Women Charitable Society/Maraianilayam, discovered him and put his parents in touch with a family case manager assigned to their village. By this time, Aravind was nine months old, weighed only 3 kgs (about 6.5 lbs), and suffered from recurrent fever. The family case manager took Aravind to the nearest community care center doctor for initial treatment. Two weeks later he was put on antiretroviral therapy and admitted to the community care center for observation. At the same time, his parents were registered at the ART center. Aravind's father also began treatment based on his CD4 report.

In the three months since Aravind first encountered Balasahyoga, he has gained 2.5 kgs (about 5.5. pounds) and has not had any opportunistic infections. He is growing to be a healthy and happy child. His parents continue to receive adherence and pre-ART counseling at home through the family case manager and at the ART centers.

The Vimala Women Charitable Society/Maraianilayam, which helped Aravind and his parents, is one of many local partners in the Balasahyoga program that is responsible for linking families to care, treatment, and psychosocial support services that best meet their needs. Family case managers serve as the primary point of contact for families like Aravind's. After a family has begun receiving assistance, the case managers stay in touch to be sure that their needs are still being met in a timely way.

Community care centers like the one where Aravind received treatment are also an important aspect of the Balasahyoga program. The National AIDS Control Program III views them as a bridge between hospitals and home-based care. Balasahyoga works to strengthen their infrastructure and human resources, with a focus on child and family-centric services and improved service delivery.

Through innovation, the Balasahyoga approach demonstrates programmatic leadership. It is unique because each family is treated as special, and each is assigned a family case manager who ensures that their specific needs are addressed comprehensively. In this way, the program has given hope to Aravind's family, just as it has done for hundreds of other children and their families enrolled in the program.

PHOTO: Aravind (courtesy Vimala Women Charitable Society)