(NACO/APSACS)
Creating an enabling atmosphere to scale up prevention and care services for susceptible migrant workers.
Areas covered:
In Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy district in 37 different areas / addas across the twin cities.
Focus is on:
Migrant’s labourers and sex workers migrate from Rural to urban areas especially Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy Districts in search of livelihood. Setting up services for these people in the cities and bringing them into care early.
Response:
The project is covering more workers in the industry and also to involving some of the men and women as educators to spread awareness regarding HIV and AIDS among the target group who are highly vulnerable to this virus.
Objectives:
To increase STD/HIV/AIDS awareness among 10000 migrant and 1200 female sex workers on HIV prevention in 25 Add as in Hyderabad district.
To identify the high risk groups (HRG) among them.
To increase the access to health service including STI and HIV testing.
To increase the health seeking behavior and safe sex behavior among them population. To link up those found positive with ARC Centres CCC.
<Introduction Migrant Labourers:
Studies from across the world have linked migration to multiple sexual partners and increased HIV transmission. It has been said that migrants and other mobile individuals are bridge populations for HIV transmission from urban to rural areas and between high-risk and low-risk groups. A large number of people move around different areas for work, the majority are men migrating for employment. Long working hours, isolation from their family and movement between areas increases the likelihood that an individual will become involved in casual sexual relationships, which in turn may increase the risk of HIV transmission. In many cases, migration does not change an individual sexual behavior, but leads them to take their established sexual behavior to areas where there is a higher prevalence of HIV. Therefore not all migr ants are at equal risk of HIV. Being mobile in and of itself is not a risk factor for HIV infection. It is the situations encountered and the behaviors possibly engaged in during mobility or migration that increase vulnerability and risk regarding HIV/AIDS.
