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Based
on the facts that:
- Control of
STIs provides
an efficient access point to reach out to
the target population to control
HIV/AIDS infection.
- Most of the
women having STIs do
not have symptoms of STIs
but become more vulnerable to get
HIV infection.
- and women
in general have low health care seeking behaviour
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Drishtikon
established This women focused programme "
Model Reproductive Health Centre
(MRHC)" in November 1996, in
the premises of Cantonment Board General Hospital
in Sadar Bazar , Delhi Cantt. to provide comprehensive
reproductive health services to the women and their
sexual partners of the surrounding resettlement colonies,
slums, villages and other poor localities .
This one-year duration pilot project (Nov.
96 to Oct. 97), sponsored by
NACO and funded by
WHO and had the following components:-
- Clinic based comprehensive reproductive health
services including Screening & treatment of
STDs,
to the women referred by the hospital.
- Counseling to all clinic attendees
- Out reach programmes in the surrounding communities
to create general awareness on
STDs /HIV / AIDS / Reproductive
& Sexual Health issues
- Surveillance to assess prevalence of STDs
& HIV infection (unlinked anonymous
testing) among the clinic attendees. Much of the
laboratory support was provided by NICD,
particularly for HIV antibody testing.
The experience gained from the programme showed that
programs related to sexuality, targeted only at women
have limited success rate. It was therefore needed to
design an intervention strategy which essentially includes
the sexual partners as part of the target population.
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