MP, actress and social activist Shabana Azmi, second from right, presented the DM awards. Former World Bank Vice President for South Asia, Praful Patel is on the left

Educating journalists about HIV and AIDS in Bangladesh, using radio to popularize real-life stories of HIV-positive persons in India, and establishing youth forums on HIV at universities in Pakistan were other winners. Using DM funds, they will have up to 18 months to carry out their projects designed to bring about change in the attitudes and practices that undermine effective HIV and AIDS programs.

“Recognition of these kinds of grass roots organizations is very important,” said Shabana Azmi, Member of Parliament, actress, and social activist presenting the awards. “We have to make sure they are empowered, strengthened, and financed so they can carry out their work. This initiative is a small but very important step in the fight against stigma and discrimination.”

Sunil Babu Pant, a crusader for gay rights in Nepal who in April became Nepal’s first openly gay Member of Parliament, won for his “Beauty and Brains in Action” proposal. “We will hold a beauty pageant for transgenders in the coming months. The winners will act as ambassadors busting the stigma against HIV and AIDS,” he said.

Target the High Risk Groups
Many of the winning projects are designed to reach and empower vulnerable groups at high risk, such as injected-drug users and their partners, sex workers and their clients, and men having sex with men (MSMs). DM award winner Anser Bhatti from the New Light AIDS Control Society in Pakistan aims to reach out to MSMs who are frequently marginalized in their own communities. “In this project we will educate and train MSMs and create an enabling environment where they can go freely to HIV testing centers and receive treatment,” said Bhatti.

The people’s choice award was given to Lotus Integrated AIDS Awareness Sangam, which will forge linkages between MSMs and local political leaders in rural areas in Tamil Nadu to ensure that the rights of the stigmatized groups are protected.

Media for the Message
The use of print and broadcast media and feature films to raise HIV awareness were also common themes. Indian filmmaker Sai Paranjape will use her grant money to produce four short films on the different social manifestations of stigma. “We need to address stigma and discrimination in a big way. As a filmmaker this grant will help me reach out to the masses to challenge many of the myths associated with the disease.”

Praful Patel, the then Bank’s vice president for South Asia Region, served as a juror during the competition. “I heard from all the participants that stigma is a huge constraint to fight the disease. Now is the time to move from knowledge to concrete actions. These innovative, homegrown solutions to fight stigma and discrimination have a huge potential to make a difference in their communities. We hope these ideas will be implemented, scaled up, and incorporated into the national AIDS programs.”

India was the country with the highest number of winning entries, with 12 of 26 winning proposals. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan followed, with three winning projects each. Two winning proposals came from Sri Lanka.

The next few issues of the India newsletter will highlight the achievements of the winners of last year’s Development Marketplace 2007. Here is the first story.

Story from the field: DM 2004
A floating hospital – the only ray of hope for thousands living on Bramhaputra islands

A floating hospital called Aasha

Dibrugarh, (Assam): A roaring, swollen Brahmaputra. A rage so mighty, that the very rocks in the river are rendered as weak as a blade of grass. Yet hope floats serene for the people living on the islands in the Brahmaputra. This ray of hope is a floating hospital called Aasha, built on a large ship, that provides relief against diseases that arrive with the floodwaters of this mighty and some say cursed river.

Developed about four years ago as a novel brainchild of Sanjay Hazarika, the managing trustee of Center for North-East Studies (C-NES), Aasha has now become an indispensable part of life for the 2.5 million people living on about 25,000 islands in the river. These islands are totally cut-off from the outside world with no electricity, health care or communication facilities. Even fever proves fatal because of lack of treatment and many women die unnecessarily during pregnancy or childbirth due to infection and anemia.

Aasha is now the new ray of hope for these isolated people. The World Bank has not only recognized the project, but under the aegis of India Development Marketplace 2007, has also provided financial aid. In fact, this experiment has been so successful that the Central Government as well as the World Bank and UNICEF are extending full support to C-NES as it prepares more such floating hospitals in its mission to keep everyone in the region healthy.

It was no easy job to convert a ship strong enough to withstand the dangerous waves of the Brahmaputra into a floating hospital that could accommodate a team of one and a half dozen doctors and assistants for days on end, along with all the necessary equipment. The C-NES team inspected many ships in the process and met with a number of artisans in all districts of Assam before constructing Aasha. It also took the help of experts from India and engineers from MIT in the US in building the ship.

Women and children queue up in front of the floating hospital

After six months of grueling work under the supervision of Kamal Prasad Gurung, a local entrepreneur, the 65 meter long floating hospital was finally ready. Aasha was launched on 25 May, 2005, and in its first foray, treated 250 residents of Bogibeel village on one of the riverine islands.

Usually, during a three-day tour, the hospital team checks up some one-and-a-half thousand people and dispenses medicines. The greater challenge is spreading awareness of health and hygiene among the illiterate tribes. But the results have been encouraging. Not only has the ship brought a ray of hope into the lives of those suffering from fever, infection and anemia, it has also won the trust of the island people. A visit to these islands makes this amply clear, more so than any government statistic.

Aasha has also paved the way ahead. Dibrugarh, Dhemaji and Tinsukhia – the worst affected districts in the region – now have three floating hospitals to cater to the needs of their people. In the next couple of months, this number will go up to five. The Government of India’s National Rural Health Mission has also begun supplying medicines to C-NES.

The conclusion of a team of researchers from America’s Tufts University is significant. They find that health conditions have improved by four to eight times in the regions where Aasha or other such hospitals have reached. Obviously, a good beginning begets better results, as everyone will agree.

(This article was originally published in Dainik Jagran on 27 June 2008 with support from Jagran-Pehel).