Summary Report: Behavioural Surveillance Survey in Healthy Highway Project, India: Part 3

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Sexually transmitted infections (STI) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection have emerged not only as important public health problems in India but also as a major developmental challenge.

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 entire country 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.

As a part of the Healthy Highways Project (HHP) supported by Department for International Development (DFID), several NGOs were supported for implementing HIV prevention projects among truck drivers and helpers in different parts of the country.

The Impact Assessment Project implemented in DFID supported states and in the healthy highways project was implemented under the guidance of NACO, SACS, with technical assistance of Family Health International (FHI) and funding from DFID. The project is an important step for tracking the trend of sexual behaviour (behavioural surveillance surveys), sexually transmitted infections (STI prevalence studies) among important groups and STI case management practices of health care providers [health care providers survey (HCPS)]. For the HHP, BSS was implemented by IMRB, a market research firm and HCPS was implemented by TNS MODE, another market research firm. STI prevalence studies were implemented by different NGOs (1. PREPARE in Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, 2. BPWT in Calcutta Port Trust area in West Bengal, 3. VOICE in Karnal in Haryana) implementing HHP among truckers.

All these surveys provide useful insight into the behaviour of important groups along national highways in the country, the prevalence of STI/HIV among truckers and the way STI patients are managed along the highways by the health care providers. Though information on HIV and high risk behaviour among the truckers existed, but these studies provide information generated in a systematic way from across the country, which is invaluable for monitoring the trend from a national perspective. Information on the prevalence of different STIs among truckers is unique as there is very limited information on the community prevalence of STIs not only among truckers but among Indian males as a whole.

It will be important to repeat these studies at periodic intervals to see the change in these parameters over time.

We thank DFID for providing the financial support to this project.

These reports when used in conjunction with national level BSS conducted by NACO, will be useful in drawing up evidence based response in AIDS programmes.

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. P. Salil

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