Category: New and Media

I-TECH India – NewBuzz for  Sep 2020

I-TECH India in partnership with the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) organised a virtual community consultation with the representatives from the Key Population (KP) and People Living with HIV (PLHIV) from the three high prevalent states in India – Mizoram, Manipur & Nagaland. The joint consultation with participation of State AIDS Control Societies (SACS), CDC-DGHT, WHO, community leaders and community representatives was held to seek inputs from the community on the goal, key principles and the strategic approach of Project Sunshine designed to integrate and scale up prevention and treatment interventions to achieve HIV epidemic control. 105 community members participated in this community consultation. The key discussions from the break-out sessions of  People who Inject Drugs (PWID), Female Injecting Drug Users (FIDU), Men who have Sex with Men (MSM), Transgender (TG), Female Sex Workers (FSW) and care and treatment were presented at the closing session. The key recommendations from the community will be incorporated in the Project Sunshine strategy document.

I-TECH India – NewBuzz for June 2020

The first of its kind, e-transfer protocols for migrant PLHIV have been developed by I-TECH India in consultation with the Government partners for ensuring retention in HIV care.

The COVID-19 lockdown resulted in loss of livelihood options forcing the migrant PLHIV from Mumbai to return to their native places, within and outside the state of Maharashtra, for an uncertain period. Many of the migrant PLHIV were stranded at various places during transit with no or little knowledge of the ART refill centres in their vicinity.

I-TECH India supported the ART Centres in tracking the migrant PLHIVs and guiding them to the nearest ART Centre for collecting ARV refill. The e-transfer activity is being implemented in close coordination with the parent and recipient ART Centre for the PLHIVs who are willing to avail the Transfer Out facility. Apart from e-transfer, notifications through SMS services are being provided to Migrant PLHIV. In the first phase 474 PLHIV are being tracked through this system to ensure retention in HIV care.

I-TECH India NewsBuzz May 2020

I-TECH India introduced the e-SACEP (State AIDS Clinical Expert Panel) mechanism in targeted districts for e-consultations Tertiary and Peripheral Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) Centres. SACEP are state level panels to connect peripheral ART centres through a referral mechanism for clinical consultations about ART treatment substitutions (2^nd and 3^rd line) and management of ART toxicities and complicated OIs. “e-SACEP” is the internet-based version. In addition to e-clinical consultations, e-SACEP acts as a “distance mentoring tool” for peripheral ART centres in India. It provides timely recommendations, especially during the lockdown situation due to COVID-19, to PLHIV failing on Antiretroviral (ARV) regimens, and in need of regimen substitution to achieve viral suppression. A total of 187 PLHIVs from 32 distant ART Centres were referred to 9 SACEP at Tertiary ART Centres, out of which 127 were recommended substitution of regimen.

A 3-day virtual webinar on “Science, Mental Health & Ethics: The Different Aspects of a Lockdown” was organised from 12-14 May 2020 to address the concerns of medical students regarding COVID-19 pandemic. Around 900 medical students (undergraduate & postgraduate) participated in this webinar, a joint initiative of I-TECH India and the Indian Medical Association – Medical Students Network (IMA -MSN) along with other organisations from the Medical fraternity. The webinar was graced by eminent speakers from the CDC, UNESCO Chair in Bioethics, and pioneers in Mental Health.