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GUJARAT STATE AIDS CONTROL SOCIETY Phone: (P.D.) 079-2681043 FOREWORD Sexualy Transmitted Infections (STIs) have been a major public health problem in all the developing countries. India had a National STD Control Programme even before we got our independence. The issue of STI control, however, did not receive the due attention till the programme was merged with the National AIDS Control Programme developed after the emergence of HIV/AIDS as a significant public health problem. HIV/AIDS has now, very rightly, been recognised as an important developmental challenge with a potential to adversely affect the entire socio-economic infrastructure of the nation. A number of activities are being implemented as a part of the National AIDS Control Programme under the leadership of National AIDS Control Organization in the state of Gujarat for the prevention of HIV/STI. Activities include awareness generation, behaviour change communication, condom promotion, management of STIs including the training of health care providers etc. Activities are also directed towards monitoring and evaluation (including impact assessment) of the programme. Impact Assessment Project implemented in the state under the overall guidance of Gujarat State AIDS Control Society (GSACS) with technical assistance of Family Health International (FHI) and funding from Department for International Development (DFID) is an important step for tracking the trend of sexual behaviour (behavioural surveillance survey), STI prevalence studies and STI case management practices of health care providers [health care providers survey (HCPS)]. BSS was implemented by ORG MARG (a market research firm), STI prevalence studies were implemented among female sex workers (FSWs) in Ahmedabad by Jyoti Sangh and in Surat by Department of Community Medicine of Government Medical College, Surat and HCPS was implemented by COHESION (a private research firm) in the whole state and by PSM Department of M. P. Shah Medical College in Jamnagar district. All these surveys have provided useful insight into the prevalence of STIs among FSWs, the behaviour of some of the important groups in the state (like FSWs and clients, slum dwellers etc.) and the way STI patients are managed in the health care settings. For instance, STI prevalence studies among the female sex workers revealed very high prevalence of curable STIs among them, which prompted initiation of additional measures (like organizing regular camps for screening sex workers, who are asymptomatic for STI) for control of STIs. Following the STI prevalence studies, efforts were also made to try and test alternate methods of STI control among them. It will be important to repeat these studies at periodic interval to see the change in these parameters over time. We thank DFID for providing the financial support to this project. It is expected that these reports will also be useful for agencies and individuals involved in the fight against STI/HIV/AIDS elsewhere in the country. Dr. D. M. Saxena Executive summary |
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