Strategy Plan for YUVROSHNI Project

Background on the geographic areas/ beneficiaries: United Way has been working proactively in the city of Mumbai with strong linkages and networks established with all the government authorities including Municipal Corporation and other key agencies. United Way of Mumbai proposes a two-dimensional project for preventing the HBV & HCV infections i.e. (1) Targeted Interventions with High Risk Groups and (2) Extensive Awareness Generation campaign among all the citizens. The Extensive Awareness Generation campaign will be carried out all over the city of Mumbai i.e. in all 24 municipal wards within City, Western and under the jurisdiction of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. Areas of Belapur, , , , Kopar khairane, in New Mumbai will also be covered. United Way Mumbai has immense experience of implementing citywide campaigns for various issues such as prevention of Malaria and other monsoon ailments, disaster training of youth volunteers, cleanliness campaigns, etc. Thus, UWM has already established strong partnerships with the local municipal corporation, colleges, NGOs, citizens groups, etc. which can be further leveraged for ensuring extensive coverage for awareness generation campaign for prevention of spread of HBV & HCV infections.

The Targeted Interventions will be carried out with the following beneficiaries;  High risk groups i.e. Migrants etc. Population at risk for HIV is also at risk for HBV/ HCV  Commercial Sex Worker women, Migrants (especially the single male migrants),  Partners/ spouses of above groups These beneficiaries will be impacted within the following geographical areas; i) In Mumbai: Mumbai city is the capital of state of and is also the commercial capital of India. The city has an estimated population of around 14 million and is administered by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. For administrative reasons, the city has been divided into 24 civic wards for decentralized provision of civic amenities and services. In the city of Mumbai, the targeted interventions for prevention of HBV & HCV infection will be focused in three civic wards in the eastern suburbs of the city namely; N, S & T municipal wards covering the suburbs; , Ghatkopar, , and . a. The slums with high risk and vulnerable groups will be focused in these three wards. Concentration of slums are located in Ghatkopar, Bhandup and Mulund. b. Slums with poor immunization status and high rates of HIV infection will be the focus for HBV and HCV awareness with close involvement of the Public Health Care system in the respective Health Post (HP) areas.

ii) In New Mumbai: New Mumbai, or , is a satellite city to Mumbai, created with the view to release the increasing burden on the city of Mumbai. Thus, New Mumbai was mainly build with focus on housing all the major commercial activities and establishments. As a result of concentration of the commercial activities in the city, it has obviously attracted large pool of migrant workers and other high risk groups. New Mumbai is administered by the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation. Areas of Belapur, Nerul, Turbhe, Vashi, Kopar khairane, Rabale in New Mumbai, where the high risk groups reside i.e. migrant workers, commercial sex workers, etc., will be targeted under this project.

Objectives i) To strengthen the Expanded Programme of Immunization (EPI) in public health system by promoting maximum coverage for HBV vaccine. ii) To increase community awareness of HBV & HCV and the importance of HBV immunization among target groups / communities. iii) To train health care providers (both public and private) a. To improve knowledge b. To refer / provide vaccine and c. To provide information, counselling and refer for testing and treatment iv) To equip testing facilities for the high risk groups and provide vaccine, if needed, to those not infected and identify infected persons who are required to receive health education and refer for treatment to the Public Health Posts. v) To sensitize health policy makers for the availability of testing and treatment of HBV & HCV infections as a part and parcel of the of the public health system.

Project scope and approach/methodology: In this project, with the view to prevent spread of HBV & HCV infections, United Way of Mumbai proposes to adopt multi-stakeholder partnership approach. United Way of Mumbai will act as the key facilitator between the implementing NGO partners, the public health care system, municipal corporations, colleges, University of Mumbai and community at large. The proposed interventions intend at complementing the efforts of public health department in addressing the crucial community health challenges before the community. Thus, it will be our conscious endeavor to work closely with the public health officials so as to ensure their close involvement in the project. This will help not only in convincing to treat Hepatitis services as a priority issue, but will also ensure that, the public health care system will take forward and sustain the impact created.

United Way of Mumbai proposes a two dimensional strategy for preventing spread of HBV & HCV infections i.e.; PART- A: Targeted Interventions with High Risk Groups (In selected 3 civic wards of Mumbai city and select areas of New Mumbai): ( This strategy envisages the following activities with comprehensive hepatitis services which would have the greatest impact in reducing HBV and HCV infections: a. Focused outreach and education: o Organizing mass media and community based campaigns for creating mass awareness on prevention of spread of HBV & HCV infections among the general population and educate them on preventive measures, importance of testing for timely diagnosis, immunization and prompt treatment. Various IEC materials and awareness collaterals such as; posters, flyers, flip charts etc. o Empower infected persons and communities with information and basic facts especially among high risk and marginalized communities. o Outreach services for ensuring adherence to immunization schedule and treatment for those infected. o Develop and prepare various materials for public propaganda, mass media and community awareness for Information- Education- Communication (IEC) events and activities. b. Identification of infected people: Screening of; o people with risk behavior during outreach activities, o from among people attending the Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) clinics and ICTCs of the implementing NGO Partner-1 o People Living with HIV (PLHIV) attending Support group meetings c. Medical management of infected people o Sensitization training by experts on the preventive and curative aspect of HBV & HCV to all stakeholders such as medical and health personnel of the public health care system, private medical practitioners and health staff of NGOs / CBOs (Community Based Organizations) engaged in relevant activities. o Test for screening persons in the high risk group and provide vaccine as appropriate to those not infected. Identify infected persons in the target group who will be provided health education and referred for appropriate treatment. d. Social and peer support o Project team will be trained as trainers to train and co-ordinate to promote awareness by involving CHV from Municipal Corporations, Community volunteers from NGOs and CBOs operating in the area. o Involving local youth groups, women under Self Help Groups and other Community Based Organizations (CBOs) to transfer information and solicit support for the awareness campaign.

PART- B: Extensive Awareness Generation campaign among masses: (Whole of Mumbai city and Targeted pockets of New Mumbai) a. Mobilization and Training of Health Educators: o United Way of Mumbai and the NGO Partner-2 will partner with concerned Public Health departments and National Service Scheme (NSS) Cell of University of Mumbai for mobilizing the colleges to participate in the campaign. o Training of Trainers sessions will be conducted by project team for selected NSS volunteers from all over 100 colleges from Mumbai city and 20 colleges from New Mumbai. . Training will not only provide basic information about HBV & HCV but will also give inputs on communication skills for conducting effective awareness drives b. Formation of Green Ribbon Brigades o The trained ‘health educators’ will form a Green Ribbon Brigade for their respective college. They will in turn conduct awareness generation sessions in their own colleges for all NSS volunteers and other fellow students. The trained health educators will be issued green ribbons and ID cards for identification as the members of Green Ribbon Brigades o United Way of Mumbai will connect these Green Ribbon Brigades with the local Public Health Care personnel, so that the volunteers can be involved in any health campaigns implemented in their neighborhoods. c. Information- Education- Communication (IEC): o Awareness collaterals and IEC material will be developed for public display and distributions. (Such as; placards, pamphlets, banners, etc.) o The trained Health Educators will also be encouraged to develop some collaterals on their own such as; posters, placards, etc. which, they can use during the awareness drives/ campaigns in the adopted localities d. Awareness campaigns and drives: o All the Green Ribbon Brigades at college level will adopt localities/ vulnerable pockets in their neighborhoods in coordination with the local Public Health Care personnel for carrying out awareness drives/ campaign throughout the year. Awareness campaigns and drives will be conducted as per the innovative ideas of the respective Green Ribbon Brigades. Some of the ways of carrying out these drives will be as following; . Awareness Rallies . Street Play performances . Poster exhibitions . Door-to-Door campaigns and one-to-one interaction . Group meetings/ sessions . Distribution of pamphlets & putting up posters at strategic locations in the slum communities and residential societies . Holding placards, posters and banners at railway stations . Any other innovative ideas and methods as chosen by the participating colleges e. Sustaining the Volunteers’ Involvement: In order to sustain the interest and involvement of the Green Ribbon Brigades, there will be inter-collegiate competitions conducted on quarterly basis. (Competitions such as; poster making competition/ graphite painting/ slogan writing/ essay writing/ street play competition, etc.) This will also help keep the volunteers engaged with the campaign throughout the year. Further, the best performer students will be felicitated with prizes and certificates. The senior bureaucrats/ officials from the Public Health Care system will be invited for felicitating the students and for appreciating the efforts put in by the colleges. This will also ensure close involvement of the Public Health Care officials in the campaign.

All the colleges and student volunteers participating in the campaign will receive certificates of appreciation from United Way of Mumbai on completion of the campaign. Also, based on the feedback/ report from United Way of Mumbai to the NSS Cell of University of Mumbai, participating students will be awarded credit hours to the students involved in the campaign. This is an excellent way of involving the city youth in a constructive program, also confirming their commitment to the city and community.