HIV/AIDS Link Workers project well supported by Trichy District Collector Ms.Jayashree Muralidharan –Percy Lal, DRP-for LWS.

Keenly street play watching women

HIV/AIDS Link Workers project is well supported by Trichy District Collector Ms.Jayashree Muralidharan said Percy Lal, DRP-for LWS, Trichy to SEVAI team. The APAC Trichy District Project Resource person of Link Workers Project, Mrs. Percy Lal said, “In Trichy District with support of APAC, NACO and TANSAC, SEVAI implements the project creates a rank of link workers in Trichy. The ‘link worker’ is a concept by which ranks of middle-level health care workers are trained to become the second important line of defence against HIV/AIDS. They are believed to be especially important in rural India to reach out to high-risk groups and vulnerable population with information, knowledge, skills on STI/HIV prevention and risk-reduction. The link worker forms a credible bridge between the patient and the doctor, and the patient and society, and helps build a community-centred HIV care model. TANSACS is creating a strong cadre of such link workers across the state and in Trichy District unit is well supported by District Collector Mrs.Jayshree Muralidharan.The Street plays organsised by TANSAC reaches out the LWS target villages for creating awareness on HIV/AIDS”. The APAC Trichy District Project Resource person further added, “This scheme aims to increase demand generation, service utilization by strengthening referral linkages and community mobilization to address issues of stigma and discrimination among core group and people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) in the rural areas. 

Street play organised by TANSAC

The link workers help establish referral and follow-up linkages for various services, including treatment for STIs, testing and treatment for TB, ICTC/PPTCT services, HIV care and support services including ART. They help create an enabling environment for people living with HIV/AIDS and their families, reduce stigma and discrimination against PLHAs through interactions with existing community structures/ groups, like Village Health Committees (VHC) Self Help Groups (SHG) and Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI)”. Mrs.Pery added “The Link Workers help promote and dispense condom use among high-risk groups. The high risk groups, identified through these link workers scheme, are linked with the NGOs implementing TI in the respective districts, for promoting behavior change and for linking with other services. Mapping of the districts done for the identification and selection of villages are given importance.  Based on this, link workers are selected and the implementations of the programme in the selected villages are carried out”.-The Link Workers hand over the information sheets and also keep condoms boxes easily accessible for the vulnerable groups.-Govin