Project: HIV AIDS Program of Bangladesh
Partner: CARE Bangladesh
Services: Communication Needs Assessment, Communication Materials Development
Duration: November 2019 to January 2020
Considering the social stigma and discrimination that surround the lives of the people living with HIV and AIDS, community-based treatment involving care and support have always been the popular approach from the beginning. CARE Bangladesh, in this regard, has been a pioneer in developing harm reduction programs since 1998 that have been providing interventions for people who inject drugs (PWID). In continuation of that, CARE Bangladesh has implemented “Comprehensive prevention program for PWID and their partners” under ‘Prioritized HIV prevention services for Key Populations in Bangladesh’ which has been managed by Save the Children with the support of the Global Fund grant in partnership with National AIDS /STD Control (NASC). The aforementioned affiliation was supervised under the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Learning from long-term interventions, CARE Bangladesh planned to re-strategize interventions with various innovations and initiatives including modifications of BCC (Behavior Change Communication) sessions with the inclusion of new materials. In light of this, CARE Bangladesh hired DEVCOM to develop need-based Communication materials for the targeted audience. After the rapid needs assessment and consultation, 1 (one) flip-chart and 1 (one) flash-card for Community Organizers (CO) were developed to use during the BCC sessions for the PWID. The objective of developing these BCC materials was to impart knowledge and skills to PWID for safer behavioral practices to reduce the risk of HIV through the BCC sessions.