In four years, the number of
HIV-infected people in the state has increased by 116 per cent despite several
target intervention (TI) schemes. And perhaps the biggest fail ure of the state
is in the implementation of female con dom scheme. Reason: National Aids
Control Organisation (NACO) hasn't provided a single penny to AMC's Aids
Control Society (AMCACS) since its inception seven years ago.
According to NACO's official
website, AMCACS is responsible for effective implementation of TI which helps
in controlling the spread of infection among the vulnerable groups in the city.
Female sex workers, drug addicts and homosexuals top the priority list in the TI
programme.
To provide better protection to
female sex workers, NACO introduced female condom programme in Gujarat in 2008.
But an RTI exposé shows, NACO has not given any money for it to AMCACS.
POOR ACHIEVEMENT RATIO
A worker from Jyoti Sangh, an NGO
working for women empowerment, said that the project failed to take off in the
city due to inadequate support from NACO. “The project was started but no
monetary support was provided. More efforts are made in spreading awareness of
male condom than female condom. This has resulted in the failure of the
scheme,“ she added.
According to the latest NACO
report, Gujarat has the second highest gap, after Chhattisgarh, in the
implementation of female condom programme. Out of the total 8,315 targeted
people, only 6,374 have been supplied with condoms, pegging the failure per
cent to 40.
As against this, neighbouring
state Maharashtra and Karnataka have achieved huge success in the
implementation.
PASSING THE BUCK
An RTI application was filed with
the state health department by Mirror on October 13, seeking information on
“the total amount of money granted and utilised for female condoms“ in the
city.
The application was passed from
one department to the other but none of the three departments that received it
had any information on it.
On October 27, the health
department transferred the application to Gujarat State Aids Control Society
(GSACS) stating, “As the subject matter of the required information is more
closely connected with the functions of your department, the same is entirely
transferred herewith to you for further necessary action.“
On November 5, the application was
sent to AMCACS.Passing the buck back to the health department, AMCACS stated
that it did not have any data on it.
Finally, on November 26, AMCACS
Project Director Umesh Oza provided the data to Mirror, saying no money had
been provided to it.
When contacted Jigisha Patel,
assistant director (TI) of GSACS, said, “As it is under NACO, they have the
compiled the data“. To more queries, she said, “I was on vacation so don't know
much about it. But I will look into the matter.“
ALTERNATIVE FOR WOMEN
“Given the low rate of male condom
use in the drug using population, and gender-based power imbalances, female
condom is a good alternative for women, as it can be controlled by the women
themselves,“ states the India office of the United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime.
Female condom is a special plastic
sleeve-like device worn internally by the woman, which can prevent pregnancy
and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
This helps female sex workers when
their male clients refuse to use condoms.
“We get many stubborn customers
who refuse wearing condom as they get the `real fun' without it. Then female condom
comes to our rescue.Wearing it, we can maintain our clients and save ourselves
from STDs,“ said a female worker associated with Sakhi Jyot, an organisation
that works with sex workers.
A commercial female condom packet
costs more than Rs 20 whereas this condom comes for Rs 5 a piece. But irregular
supply makes sex workers more prone to infections.
“We don't get female condom
regularly. In fact, over the past one year, the supply has fallen and as the
commercial condom is more expensive we can't buy it,“ said a sex worker.
`NO DEMAND'
In Bengaluru and Mumbai, most
pharmacists keep female condom due to rising demand. However, when Mirror
visited several medical clinics in Ahmedabad, none of them had female condom.
They said they do not keep it as there is no demand.
“People are unaware of female
condom. We have never got any one enquiring about it, so we don't keep it,“
said Chandrakant Pa rekh of Arihant Medical Store in Navrangpura.
When the programme started, many
clinics like Ashok Medical and General Store stored a huge collection but the
store ran into loss when no one bought it. “Unlike Mumbai, the awareness of
this prod uct is limited to a few people. In two years, only a handful of
people have come to buy it,“ said Yogesh Patel of the store.A member of Hin
dustan Latex Ltd said that lack of awareness and male-dominant mindset obstruct
the demand for female condom. “When male con dom was first introduced, it too
wasn't accepted. But now there is a huge demand for it among people of all classes.
The same thing will happen with female condom. Since, its inspection, it has
picked up a lot, but there is need for more education,“ she added.
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