The vulnerability of the millions who are still displaced by the floods in Bihar has only re-emphasized the need for HIV, and Sexual Health services for this displaced population. As the flood affected populace will take months to return to their original lands and many are migrating to cities like Mumbai and Delhi, HIV and sexual health services need to be made available to them.
The nature of the humanitarian emergency determines the degree of exacerbation for the existing HIV epidemic, in a particular disaster affected area. Accordingly, there is no doubt that today in Bihar’s flood there is a far greater danger of increasing the vulnerability of the flood-affected people and their service providers, than it was in the Tsunami-affected coastal belt of South India. The difference between Tsunami and flood is that while the coastal ‘belt’ is severely damaged by the Tsunami, in flood a large broad area is submerged and may remain so for a long time as has happened recently in Bihar. Consequently in Tsunami, aid agencies are able to reach the affected populace much faster than in flood, mostly within a day, as only a ‘belt’ is affected. However, in the Bihar flood the infrastructure of whole districts are submerged and disrupted. Accordingly, it is much more difficult to reach the marooned populace in a flood. As a result, even after weeks some stranded people remain cut-off from rescue and services in flooded situations.
Floods are increasing in incidence and intensity due to the increasing effects of climate change. The Bihar flood is a classic example of an extreme event with disastrous consequences due to climate change. A changing climate is expected to increase the risk of disasters and thereby the demand for aid measures.
Therefore, keeping in tune with the fact that programme interventions on background development factors of HIV vulnerabilities require holistic strategies and multidisciplinary partnership, the following points must be considered:
• The transmission of HIV from person to person through sexual contact or other means may be climate independent. Nevertheless, there is need for sufficient research studies to substantiate the interrelation between climate change and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI).
• The larger issue of disaster impact mitigation and HIV needs to be a part of the national response framework to HIV at the policy level.
• Almost no one would challenge the fact that climate changes. However, the impact of climate change will not necessarily be floods always. It could be of different in nature as well as in magnitude. Therefore, there is a need to explore strategic dimensions both at micro and macro level to design intervention on HIV, based on the variable of climate. It could be as a early “warning and early response” approach or as a “long term” approach targeted to prevent HIV- integrated within the prevention of human induced climate change.
Finally, it is the outcomes of changes in climate, the vagaries of its impact on the environment and our surroundings, which determine the nature of the stage on which people work, rest and live. That's why, understanding some of these apparently countless, but root causes, is fundamental to designing any type of response in humanitarian emergencies.
Referance: Discussion on HIV and Humanitarian Emergencies - Experiences
Solution Exchange, AIDS community-
1. E. Mohamed Rafique, UNAIDS India Office, New Delhi
2. Jagdish, Telugu Network of People Living with HIV (TNP+), Vijayawada
3. Upahar Pramanik, UNAIDS India Office, New Delhi
4. Kalika Mohapatra, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Bhubaneswar
5. Lalit Mohan Mishra, YOJANA , Puri (Response 1; Response 2)
6. Ravishwar Sinha, Independent Consultant, New Delhi
7. Rudra Prasanna Rath, Orissa State Disaster Management Authority, Dhabalagiri, Jajpur District, Orissa
8. Sudha Kalangi, Society for Welfare of HIV infected People (SHIP), Positive Network, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh
9. Avnish Jolly, Consultant, Chandigarh
10. Brijesh Dubey, Rajasthan Network For People Living With HIV, Jaipur
11. Kiran Jayasa, Consultant, Hyderabad)
Showing posts with label Effect of Natural Disasters on Vulnerability to HIV in India. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Effect of Natural Disasters on Vulnerability to HIV in India. Show all posts
Tsunami and Its Aftermath on Vulnerability to HIV in Coastal India
( A MUST READ REPORT)
http://www.swasti.org/main/media/Effect_of_Tsunami_on_HIV_Vu lnerability.pdf
Apart from the devastation and havoc that a natural calamity causes, it has far reaching effects on the lives of the people affected by it. Vulnerability to HIV is one such reality that cannot be ignored. Swasti, Health Resource Center, with the support of Oxfam International conducted a unique study that focused on understanding the vulnerabilities of Tsunami affected communities in India, to HIV. Covering thirty locations across five states, the study found that vulnerability existed in almost all locations and was heightened in two-thirds of the locations. Moreover, physical proximity of displaced populations was established as the primary factor contributing to a chain of events that led to increased vulnerability. Additionally, increased unprotected sex with non-regular partners was recognized as the key risk factor. Also, coastal communities in the tsunami-hit areas were vulnerable to HIV even before the Tsunami. Thus, the effects of humanitarian crises and aid measures influenced the behaviour and practices of the affected, significantly heightening their vulnerability. Consequently, there is a need to mainstream HIV, reproductive and sexual health service components in humanitarian aid, as well as, include communities from disaster-prone areas into national HIV and sexual health interventions.
The massive tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004, caused devastation in 14 countries bordering the Indian Ocean—especially in India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. About 227,000 people lost their lives and 1.7 million were displaced.
In India, more than 2,000 kilometers of coastline along the southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and the Union Territories of Puducherry (formerly Pondicherry) and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were affected.There were tremendous successes in the humanitarian response to the tsunami, such as the prevention of outbreaks of deadly waterborne disease among those who were displaced from their homes. However, the urgent needs identified by communities and aid providers—to supply food, water, shelter, medical care, psychosocial support, and eventually the means to make a living—tended to overshadow the need to provide information and services that could prevent the spread of HIV.
Yet, even when aid providers prioritize AIDS prevention activities, there is a dearth of information to help them understand what conditions trigger increased risk of infection or how communities and aid providers can best address those conditions.
The research undertaken by Swasti is aimed at discovering ways in which the tsunami and its aftermath affected the risk of contracting HIV. Its purpose was not to measure how many tsunami-affected people are now HIV positive. Instead, the study aimed to identify changes in behavior that occurred after the tsunami that placed community members at greater (or lesser) risk—changes that may have been triggered by trauma and and losses, disrupted communities, and by the aid effort itself.
http://www.swasti.org/main/media/Effect_of_Tsunami_on_HIV_Vu lnerability.pdf
Apart from the devastation and havoc that a natural calamity causes, it has far reaching effects on the lives of the people affected by it. Vulnerability to HIV is one such reality that cannot be ignored. Swasti, Health Resource Center, with the support of Oxfam International conducted a unique study that focused on understanding the vulnerabilities of Tsunami affected communities in India, to HIV. Covering thirty locations across five states, the study found that vulnerability existed in almost all locations and was heightened in two-thirds of the locations. Moreover, physical proximity of displaced populations was established as the primary factor contributing to a chain of events that led to increased vulnerability. Additionally, increased unprotected sex with non-regular partners was recognized as the key risk factor. Also, coastal communities in the tsunami-hit areas were vulnerable to HIV even before the Tsunami. Thus, the effects of humanitarian crises and aid measures influenced the behaviour and practices of the affected, significantly heightening their vulnerability. Consequently, there is a need to mainstream HIV, reproductive and sexual health service components in humanitarian aid, as well as, include communities from disaster-prone areas into national HIV and sexual health interventions.
The massive tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004, caused devastation in 14 countries bordering the Indian Ocean—especially in India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. About 227,000 people lost their lives and 1.7 million were displaced.
In India, more than 2,000 kilometers of coastline along the southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and the Union Territories of Puducherry (formerly Pondicherry) and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were affected.There were tremendous successes in the humanitarian response to the tsunami, such as the prevention of outbreaks of deadly waterborne disease among those who were displaced from their homes. However, the urgent needs identified by communities and aid providers—to supply food, water, shelter, medical care, psychosocial support, and eventually the means to make a living—tended to overshadow the need to provide information and services that could prevent the spread of HIV.
Yet, even when aid providers prioritize AIDS prevention activities, there is a dearth of information to help them understand what conditions trigger increased risk of infection or how communities and aid providers can best address those conditions.
The research undertaken by Swasti is aimed at discovering ways in which the tsunami and its aftermath affected the risk of contracting HIV. Its purpose was not to measure how many tsunami-affected people are now HIV positive. Instead, the study aimed to identify changes in behavior that occurred after the tsunami that placed community members at greater (or lesser) risk—changes that may have been triggered by trauma and and losses, disrupted communities, and by the aid effort itself.
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