The Chaos Within - A City is its people
At the last Wake Up Pune meeting we discussed what our USP is...
Issues of HIV transmission, stigma and discrimination, access to HIV related services, support for people living with HIV - all these are included in our the campaign, but what makes our campaign different?
Issues of transmission and stigma and discrimination have been dealt with before. Access to quality testing and support services is high on the agenda of many organisations and campaigns have been conducted in the city. So what is it, is it just the scale of what this campaign is trying to achieve?
As Rajesh Joshi - a film maker working with us on the campaign -said when we spoke about the possible lack of donor support, we should still go ahead nonetheless, and ensure that we do not dilute Wake Up Pune to Wake Up Bhawanipeth! I.e. Reduce the campaign to just a part of this large city.
So if we are trying to wake Pune up, is this enough, or do we have another USP that is linked?
Possible answers:
1) It is the first time that HIV agencies in the city have attempted to 'work together' for a Pune wide campaign.
2) It is the first time that a Pune wide campaign has been attempted.
3) Simply, we are trying to wake Pune up to the issue of HIV that is largely ignored.
The first possibility focuses on the cooperation of agencies.
The second focuses on an inaugural event... yes, we will need more than just one Wake up Pune campaign.
The third is by far the closest... but then, how do we make Pune aware that this is about them? It is not about the scale of the campaign, it is not about the myriad of agencies that run the campaign, but rather, that it is about the city! Its people!
That's where we discussed numbers. And the discussion focused on the fascinating reactions we as human beings have to numbers...
Let's be honest, we are trying to 'sell' Pune the idea that HIV is an issue in our city, and that it needs to be addressed rather than be ignored, and numbers can help us achieve this.
So how many are infected in the city?
As this blog has reported in the past, the NACO stat from 2004 is 1.8%... this is double the national average, this is almost double the epidemic status mark set by WHO which is 1% of any population.
This makes it approximately 100,000 people depending on which census figure we follow.
These numbers are more than just 'significant' for us in the field…
So what do we do?
Do we say 1.8%... would this reassure you or scare you? (Thanks Paul)
Do we say 100,000 people... can you get your head around 100,000 people?
India has a prevalence rate of 0.9%. We are technically a low prevalence country! We have not reached epidemic status!
India also has an estimated 5.7 Million people living with HIV, the highest in the world according to the UNAIDS June 2006 report.
Another number that is interesting is that only as little as 8-10% are said to know their status. This leaves a mammoth 90% ignorant of their status and how to protect themselves and those around them.
We can play the numbers game all day and finally would we have made a difference? Does it depend on how we play it? Should we play it at all?
If we don't, i.e. use a number from a credible source - what is a credible source? NACO contests the UNAIDS figures - can we engage with Pune?
The bottom line is that Pune needs to know the extent of HIV in the city.
But how do we do this without diluting the issue?
We need help, so if anyone reading this blog has any ideas about how to use the number let us know.
But more than the number, I think the focus on the people of Pune is fantastic, and if our campaign is run right, then... Pune will begin the change we hope for.
Our tag line for Wake Up Pune is "You can make a difference."
It's simple really:
You can make a difference from protecting yourself from contracting HIV... this may involve behavioral changes, it may not.
You can make a difference by treating HIV+ people with the dignity they deserve, by not judging them, by supporting them, if you are in a position to support them... this may involve a change in attitude, it may not.
Obviously the campaign will have posters, hoardings, leaflets, street plays, multiple sessions across the city with all sectors from corporate organizations to slums, the Race Against AIDS marathon and much more to reinforce our key messages... but at then end of it all, when we do the post campaign evaluation - the pre and post campaign evaluations deserve a blog of their own... mammoth task! - we want to know whether we have actually connected with the city... whether the city is actually willing to wake up and make a difference.
A city is its people.
Issues of HIV transmission, stigma and discrimination, access to HIV related services, support for people living with HIV - all these are included in our the campaign, but what makes our campaign different?
Issues of transmission and stigma and discrimination have been dealt with before. Access to quality testing and support services is high on the agenda of many organisations and campaigns have been conducted in the city. So what is it, is it just the scale of what this campaign is trying to achieve?
As Rajesh Joshi - a film maker working with us on the campaign -said when we spoke about the possible lack of donor support, we should still go ahead nonetheless, and ensure that we do not dilute Wake Up Pune to Wake Up Bhawanipeth! I.e. Reduce the campaign to just a part of this large city.
So if we are trying to wake Pune up, is this enough, or do we have another USP that is linked?
Possible answers:
1) It is the first time that HIV agencies in the city have attempted to 'work together' for a Pune wide campaign.
2) It is the first time that a Pune wide campaign has been attempted.
3) Simply, we are trying to wake Pune up to the issue of HIV that is largely ignored.
The first possibility focuses on the cooperation of agencies.
The second focuses on an inaugural event... yes, we will need more than just one Wake up Pune campaign.
The third is by far the closest... but then, how do we make Pune aware that this is about them? It is not about the scale of the campaign, it is not about the myriad of agencies that run the campaign, but rather, that it is about the city! Its people!
That's where we discussed numbers. And the discussion focused on the fascinating reactions we as human beings have to numbers...
Let's be honest, we are trying to 'sell' Pune the idea that HIV is an issue in our city, and that it needs to be addressed rather than be ignored, and numbers can help us achieve this.
So how many are infected in the city?
As this blog has reported in the past, the NACO stat from 2004 is 1.8%... this is double the national average, this is almost double the epidemic status mark set by WHO which is 1% of any population.
This makes it approximately 100,000 people depending on which census figure we follow.
These numbers are more than just 'significant' for us in the field…
So what do we do?
Do we say 1.8%... would this reassure you or scare you? (Thanks Paul)
Do we say 100,000 people... can you get your head around 100,000 people?
India has a prevalence rate of 0.9%. We are technically a low prevalence country! We have not reached epidemic status!
India also has an estimated 5.7 Million people living with HIV, the highest in the world according to the UNAIDS June 2006 report.
Another number that is interesting is that only as little as 8-10% are said to know their status. This leaves a mammoth 90% ignorant of their status and how to protect themselves and those around them.
We can play the numbers game all day and finally would we have made a difference? Does it depend on how we play it? Should we play it at all?
If we don't, i.e. use a number from a credible source - what is a credible source? NACO contests the UNAIDS figures - can we engage with Pune?
The bottom line is that Pune needs to know the extent of HIV in the city.
But how do we do this without diluting the issue?
We need help, so if anyone reading this blog has any ideas about how to use the number let us know.
But more than the number, I think the focus on the people of Pune is fantastic, and if our campaign is run right, then... Pune will begin the change we hope for.
Our tag line for Wake Up Pune is "You can make a difference."
It's simple really:
You can make a difference from protecting yourself from contracting HIV... this may involve behavioral changes, it may not.
You can make a difference by treating HIV+ people with the dignity they deserve, by not judging them, by supporting them, if you are in a position to support them... this may involve a change in attitude, it may not.
Obviously the campaign will have posters, hoardings, leaflets, street plays, multiple sessions across the city with all sectors from corporate organizations to slums, the Race Against AIDS marathon and much more to reinforce our key messages... but at then end of it all, when we do the post campaign evaluation - the pre and post campaign evaluations deserve a blog of their own... mammoth task! - we want to know whether we have actually connected with the city... whether the city is actually willing to wake up and make a difference.
A city is its people.
posted by Deep Griha at 1:30 am
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