Organised Response for Comprehensive HIV Interventions in Districts of Manipur and Nagaland (ORCHID)
Description: Project ORCHID works to reduce transmission of HIV and STI among Injecting Drug Users (IDU), Sex Workers (SW), Men having Sex with Men (MSM) and their sexual partners through a response of increased scale and coverage in selected high-prevalence districts and townships of Manipur and Nagaland in Northeast India. Project ORCHID has been building the capacity of local NGOs, community based organisations and faith-based organisations since May 2004. Together with Project ORCHID, local NGOs are increasingly identifying strategies and forging an enabling environment, to scale up harm reduction services to provide outreach to IDU and SW in remote and challenging terrains. This year over 20,000 IDUs, 4,000 SWs, 700 MSM have accessed Project ORCHID services through 12 NGOs and 24 implementation sites. These services provided include needle and syringe program, condoms distribution (including demonstration of safer practices), counselling, STI testing and treatment, abscess treatment, IEC distribution, referral and recreational facilities. In 2005, DFID granted additional funds to EHA and AIHI to provide a buprenorphine substitution service to 1,800 IDU alongside Project ORCHID’s existing harm reduction interventions.
Country/Region: India
Funding Agencies: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Partner Organisations: Emmanuel Hospital Association
Project duration: March 2004-March 2009
Key Nossal Staff: Peter Deutschmann Michelle Kermode, Beth Fuller, Angela Rintoul, Alison Morgan, Michelle Kermode, Richard Di Natale, Sasi Kumar