The Savitri Rural Development project, begun in May 2002, initially started out of a desire of the Trust to be involved in combating the spread of Aids, a virus that is causing so much pain and suffering particularly in developing countries where access to the appropriate care and medication is usually not an option. Aids has become one of the greatest epidemics in history. According to statistics compiled by The World Health organization, AIDS is now killing more people each year than any other infectious disease. Someone dies from AIDS every eleven seconds. 

The virus has now arrived in two of the most heavily populated countries in the world: India and China. With populations of 1 billion and 1.3 billion respectively, these countries are home to over a third of the world’s population. Prime Minister Vajpayee declared HIV as an epidemic in India as early as 1998 and the Indian government estimates that in 2000, 3.86 million Indians were infected with HIV, the second largest number of people after South Africa. Although the prevalence of HIV in India may seem relatively low – 0.7%-1% of the general adult population compared with rates of 20% and over in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana, infection has now been detected in all states and union territories. It is no longer confined to vulnerable groups, such as sex workers and transport workers or to urban areas. 

Taking all this into consideration, the Trust felt that it was imperative to either try and identify or incorporate programmes that provided HIV awareness and testing in the geographical areas in which our existing projects are working. We have decided to first concentrate our efforts in Nasik, a city approximately four hours drive north east of Mumbai for a number of reasons. Firstly, an important trucker’s route passes through the city, secondly, there is a large tribal population which regularly travel into the city yet have little access to health awareness programmes and thirdly because The Tulsi Eye Hospital in Nasik which we support through the Mission for Vision programme has already created such a good infrastructure in the rural, tribal and migrant areas. 

It was decided that our project would not draw attention specifically to HIV however, but rather to health issues in general. In an area which contains a large tribal population living in remote and mountainous terrain, HIV is certainly not the only health issue which needs to be confronted. Also, through incorporating information on the virus into a general health programme we feel it makes the subject of HIV easier for people to approach and presents a more realistic picture of the virus as it is often detected through opportunistic infections like TB. 

It is imperative that if we raise awareness we also have testing and counseling facilities available alongside. As well as awareness and testing, we will also focus on reducing the transmission of the virus from mother to child through making mother to child transmission drugs available. It promises to be an innovative programme which can act as a model for other organizations working in the field of primary health care in other regions in the country. 

OJUS, a medical institute focusing on chronic viral diseases in Mumbai, has agreed to act as our consultants. After collecting data on the health and awareness levels of people generally in the tribal area and identifying possible sites, we have chosen two villages and their surrounding region, covering a total population of 20,000-25,000 upon which to focus; Dolharmal and Ganudule. Dolharmal has little health care facilities, schooling up to the 4th standard only and a terrible road meaning that travel is arduous and long. Gandule on the other hand does have infrastructure in place, in the form of a primary health care clinic and staff funded by the government. It is not well-functioning however.

Now that these sites have been identified and the villagers have welcomed the initiative, both villages are in the process of forming local committees, finding buildings for the two main health centers and the sub-centers and identifying potential health workers who will be interviewed by the consultants on the project. These health workers will undergo an intensive 3 month training programme from April – June 2003 during which time a full-time doctor for the project will also be identified. The project is due to start in July 2003. 

The two main objectives of this programme are as follows: 

01. To establish comprehensive health care centers.   
02. To raise awareness of health issues amongst men, women, adolescents and children through producing and sharing educational materials on health.  

At a later stage we would also like to be involved in strengthening the local economy through liaising with other organizations and banks to provide vocational training, information on agricultural inputs such as water harvesting and encourage the formation of income generating micro-credit groups.   

01.Eye-Care

02.Pain & Palliative care

03.Health provision

04.Community development