Be Informed - Be Safe      ----       Avoid High Risk Behaviour

AAG ANNUAL REPORT 2005-2006

From The Director’s Desk
(2005-2006)
During this reporting time, the pendulum has swung furiously from side to side – this pendulum also swings up and down. I say this thinking of the HIV/AIDS scenario projected by the various bodies who have climbed aboard the HIV/AIDS wagon. Some project a very rosy picture, and some quite the opposite. Unfortunately, we tend to get stuck on figures that suit us – and now I speak of the figure nationally accepted on the spread of HIV/AIDS as being 5.2 million cases – then there are televised debates which put the figure at 5.7 million  and then we get figures quoted in various news papers as being only in the thousands! And so it goes on!

The fact on the ground is that a lot more people are testing positive than are being put on any list or map. The per capita earning is at such a low level and the inflation at such a high, that populations migrate from the rural areas to big cities in search of jobs and money to stay alive. Families are most often left in the village and the men spend months, sometimes years in enforced celibacy. However, the urge being what it is, they visit sex workers of both sexes, who operate either out of 5 star hotels or from the end of a cell phone, or those unlucky women who get caught or trafficked and are forced to operate from places like the red light areas or from hutments in various slums. Several interventions by the Government with the help of the police have muddied the waters still further by driving the sex workers away from the red light area into the very fabric of our ordinary residential colonies. Here these women cannot be accessed for medical relief or any other type of intervention by any of the organisations working on the issue of HIV/AIDS. To put it quite flatly, we cannot even give them condoms to make sure that safe sex is practised for the simple reason that we cannot go inquiring at every house in Delhi, to establish whether there is a requirement for condoms!

We have migration from one state to another, from one country to another. People (men, and sometimes families), cross over borders and with them, in their luggage, crosses the HIV. Whole families have been infected because of one person who has taken the virus up or down.

Annual Report 2005-2006

AIDS Awareness Group (AAG) was established in 1991 and registered as a Society in March 1994. Its Mission is to contribute towards minimizing human suffering in the field of health, HIV / AIDS and domestic violence. AAG believes that the best method to do this is to focus upon “Prevention though generating Awareness”.

Working ceaselessly for the past 15 years in Delhi, some of the issues that AAG is associated with include:

1. Creation and enhancement of HIV/AIDS awareness in the general population with a special focus on vulnerable groups like sex workers, their prospective clients, slum dwellers, inmates of jails, migrant labourers and drug users;
2. Provision of pre-test/post test, follow up and counselling for HIV positive prisoners inside Delhi’s Tihar Jail;
3. Running a therapeutic community based rehabilitation programme for juvenile drug addict prisoners in Tihar Jail;
4. Provision of free legal aid and legal literacy to the underprivileged prisoners at Tihar.
5. Implementation of a programme focusing on health and behaviour change leading to safer sex practices as well as provision of syndromic treatment of STIs for sex workers and their clients on GB Road (the Red Light Area in Delhi); and,
6. Running an integrated community health and development programme in a resettlement colony at Madan Pur Khader, with special emphasis on enhancing HIV/AIDS awareness and home based care and support;

In a nutshell, therefore, there are three major areas where AAG is working:

• Tihar Jail
• GB Road
• Madan Pur Khader

At Madan Pur Khader – A Resettlement Colony

• Enhancing awareness on HIV/AIDS and STIs through street corner meetings, street plays and magic shows in self help groups and our vocational training Centres
• Running an Integrated Life Cycle Reproductive Health Programme, conducting ANC, PNC and Well Baby clinics, and Anaemia correction programme for children and pregnant women along with nutritional correctional programme for them
• Providing awareness about safe drinking water and distributing chlorine tablets in areas where safe drinking water is not available
• Forming Self Help Groups (SHG) for micro finance and credit, and using this as a forum for talking on various gender related  and other issues including enhancing HIV / AIDS awareness
• Organizing vocational trainings for the women and girls and boys (Sewing Classes for the girls and Computer Classes for the boys and girls)
• Forming children’s groups for extra curricular and recreational activities
• Motivating school dropouts to continue their education after making tuitions possible for them

TIHAR JAIL
AAG’s work in Tihar jail focuses on:

• Dealing with adolescent under-trials and convicts who are addicted to one or the other form or narcotic or alcoholic addiction who are housed in CHETNA ward; Providing them Therapeutic Community programme for their rehabilitation
• HIV and AIDS awareness programmes in all jails inside Tihar;
• Provision of Free Legal Aid in two jails i.e. in Central Jails III and V
• Providing Legal Literacy sessions in all jails for the new prisoners in all jails.

Free Legal AID
Providing legal aid to the inmates of different jails in Tihar is an important part of the work that is carried out by members of AAG. Efforts were made by not only members of the AAG team directly but also by AAG’s Advocate, Mr. R.K. Thakur to create legal literates in the jails. The legal literacy sessions were especially interactive with many of the under-trial prisoners asking questions relevant to their cases.

Given below are details of our work with regard to Free Legal AID

Legal Literacy Sessions inside the Jail
Annual Report 05-06
In this year we were able to conduct 12 Legal Literacy Sessions inside the jail. Our Legal Coordinator Mr. R.K.Thakur conducted the sessions from which approximately 3000 inmates benefited.

HIV and AIDS awareness programmes
AAG’s mission is to contribute towards minimizing human suffering in the field of health especially related to HIV/AIDS. AAG’s work in Tihar Jail is part of working towards the achievement of this mission. Apart from the interactive sessions that were held regularly in different jails wherein a number of issues related to HIV and its spread were tackled by trained AAG Counsellors, efforts were also made to convey the same message using a wide variety of mediums. Thus, a play enacted by members of the Drishtantar Theatre Group put across a similar message in a format which educated those who saw the play while entertaining them at the same time. At another time a magic show was used to convey information about HIV / AIDS. An open interactive forum followed the different IEC mediums used where all those in the audience had a chance to openly ask and clear their doubts regarding any of the issues talked about. Some of the questions raised related to the following:

• How do we know that any one is HIV +.
• Having anal sex and its consequences.

• What are the symptoms of HIV
• Is there any cure for HIV in the initial stage?

• Should both partners test for HIV before marriage?
• Why is taking blood from blood bank not 100% safe?

• What is a “window” period?
• Can the ELISA test detect antibodies in the blood from a blood bank after three months?
• What is AAG doing about removing stigma and discrimination in the jail?
Achievements

HIV /AIDS Awareness Programme in Jail
Annual Statistics 05-06
Sessions inside the wards	No of Sessions	Participants	Street Plays/ Magic Shows on HIV /AIDS	Participants	Total Reach
April	5	600	1	500	1100
May	7	1350	0	0	1350
June	5	480	0	0	480
July	6	600	0	0	600
August	4	400	0	0	400
Sept	6	900	0	0	900
Oct	5	800	2	2500	3300
Nov	5	650	1	900	1550
Dec	4	400	0	0	400
Jan	5	420	1	1000	1420
Feb	4	400	0	0	400
March	5	500	2	2000	2500
Total	61	7500	7	6900	14400

 

CHETNA WARD
Chetna ward is a ward housing adolescent addicts. Hence special emphasis is laid on explaining the linkages between drugs and AIDS while conducting awareness sessions at the Ward. Legal literacy sessions were also arranged for the inmates of the Chetna Ward. Though the inmates were mostly illiterate and their comprehension slow and limited, yet they sat attentively at all our awareness creation sessions.

Every week sessions were held on HIV\AIDS and STIs. The Counsellor provided information on HIV/AIDS and STIs, the ways of transmission and methods for prevention of infection, testing and the proper use of condoms. Linkages between IV drug use and HIV were also explained to the inmates.

These were by and large interactive sessions wherein the inmates asked a number of questions regarding the topics covered in the sessions. An interesting by-product of the awareness sessions was the fact that the AAG counsellors were approached by some of the inmates who were possibly afflicted with STIs, who were then referred to the Hospital for examination, testing and treatment.

The Chetna Ward inmates were also visited by Mr. Rod Beadles from the Elton John AIDS Foundation, London. He interacted with all present.

Given below are the details of AAG’s work at the Chetna Ward.

Achievements

Statistics of the Therapeutic Community Programme for Adolescent Addicts in Chetna ward in Central Jail V
April 2005 to March 2006
S.No.	Particulars	Total
1	Total No. of Inmates in the year	797
2	New Comers	299
3	Repeaters	505
4	Convicts	18
5	Under Trials	786
6	Types Of Addiction
	Smack	526
	I.. V. Drug Use	33
	Ganja	90
	Alcohol	34
	Others	121
7	Marital Status
	Single	690
	Married	114
8	Education
	Illiterate	684
	Primary	66
	Middle	33
	High School	26
	Inter (10 + 2)	5
11	No of Times Arrested
	Once	399
	Twice	198
	Thrice	107
	More Than 3 Times	200
12	Occupations
	Labourer	90
	Pick Pockets	509
	Unemployed	17
	Rickshaw Pullers	36
	Kabari	25
	Business	43
	Others	65
14	Cause Of Addiction
	Peer Group Pressure	187
	Curiosity	331
	Family Problems	60
	Individual	52
	Sickness	135
	Others	39
16	INCOME (In Rs.)
	No Income	15
	Up To 2000	65
	2000 To 5000	222
	5000 To 10000	368
	Above 10000	134
17	Expenditure On Drugs in Rupees
	50/- To 100/-	198
	100/- To 200/-	299
	200/- To 500/-	253
	Above 500/-	39
	Free Of Cost	15
18	Age Wise Distribution
	Under 10 Years	44
	11 To 15 Years	275
	16 To 20 Years	485
19	Risk Behaviours
	IV Drug User	35
	Sharing Syringes And Needles	35
	Unsafe Sex	455

In Addition…
In addition to the work specified above, AAG also organized a training session on Stress Management in Tihar Jail for 53 new recruits who were to join as sentries and warders. Among the issues covered were:

• What is stress
• Causes of stress
• Attitudes which cause stress
• Manifestations of stress
• Some stress breakers

At GB Road – A Red Light Area

• Conducting AIDS awareness sessions with prospective clients through street plays and magic shows and street corner meetings
• Providing treatment for STIs and minor ailmentsand referrals for major illnesses
• Conducting condom promotion programmes
Achievements

Total No. of Clients	981
Total No. of STIs clients	309
Total No. of Skin clients	48
Others	624
Total No. of TB Patients	1
Total No. of Gynaec. cases	3
Referrals	35
Condoms distributed	98110
No. of HIV+ patients	5
Pulse Polio Given	100

Hot Line Counselling on AIDS and STDs
Phone numbers 26187953 and 26187954 are the hot line numbers for personalised, interactive but anonymous counselling services. An increasing number of calls are being received since this service was started in 1997. The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) had sponsored this service initially.

In House Trainings and Workshops

We have been holding regular in-house trainings on RCH, STIs / HIV / AIDS / Hepatitis A/B/C/D/E and for counselling for the above, where Resource people from other organisations have also been invited. In addition, we have conducted trainings on how to conduct street corner meetings near the brothels and now to interact with the prospective clients of sex workers. This is to make negotiations for condom use easier for the sex workers.
      

• Human Rights Work outside Jail

AAG has also helped people particularly women in distress, by providing them information about their legal rights. We provide support and an enabling environment, where the clients (women) feel safe enough to experiment with the concept of autonomy in order to generate and explore their own options. If they ask, we also suggest a few options to deal with the crisis situation they are in. They are at liberty to adopt the option they like best.

In addition we have helped many cases of marital problems and provided crisis  Counselling and legal advice through our lawyer.

AAG has also helped factory workers who were being denied their due salaries and allowances, by unscrupulous factory owners.

ADVOCACY AND NETWORKING

Lawyer’s Collective an NGO,
ATN a network of NGOs,
A network of NGOs carrying out Telephonic Counselling on HIV / AIDS
E networking:-
- Saathii@Yahoogroup.com
- AIDS-INDIA@yahoogroups.com

AAG is a member of the Anti Trafficking Network (ATN), which is a group of about 20 NGOs working against the trafficking of minor girls For flesh trade.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

• Setting up a rehabilitation centre based on the Therapeutic Community model. for Addicts in South Delhi primarily but not exclusively for juvenile drug addicts ex jail if we can raise the necessary funds.
• Starting a Coaching Centre in Madan Pur Khader for school dropouts and those who have never been to school, so that they could get re-admitted / admitted into schools and join the mainstream.
• A mobile HIV / AIDS awareness programme and a linked mobile counselling service in Delhi and adjacent areas

 

We would be very grateful for your support in any one of the above mentioned programmes.

If you find the above information relevant to the purpose for which your organization provides grants, we would be more than willing to send in a Letter of Inquiry (LOI).

Publications and Reports:

• “NDPS law de mystified” – under preparation
• Information on AIDS (Third Edition in English under preparation). In Hindi printed
• Booklets in Hindi and English on “Sexually Transmissible Diseases
• Booklet titled “Basic (Legal) Information for Under trials”, Volume 1 & 2  (2nd Edition of Vol. 1 is under revision and preparation)
• Booklet titled “Legal Rights and Options Available to Convicts.”

Our Donors, Supporters and Well Wishers –

1. Individual Donors
• Mr. And Dr.(Mrs.) Tony Carlier,
• Mr. Yogesh Jain,
• Ms. John & Ellena Christie
• Ms. Minoti Bahri & Master Isar
• Mr. S. P. Loonker,
• Ms Priya Vishwanath,
• Mr Puneet Nath Kapil,
• Ms Elizabeth
• Mr Siddhartha
2. Funding Agencies
• Elton John AIDS Foundation,
• Standard Chartered Bank
• British High Commission
• UNODC
• Charities Aid Foundation
3. Supporting Agencies
• Charities Aid Foundation,
• Glaxo & SmithKline consumer Ltd.
• Family Planning Association of India
• Jan Sikshan Sansthan
4. Our Special Thanks to:
• Mr Yogesh Jain
• Mr B.K.Gupta IPS., DG (Prisons)
• Mr. JV Sunder Singh, Head, Credit Ops, Standard Chartered.
• Ms. Chandni Lamba
• Ms. Priya Viswanath, CEO CAF
• Mr Surya Prakash Loonker,

 

5. Thanks for Keeping donation boxes:-
• Rainbow Restaurant
• Canara Bank, East of Kailash.