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| UNODC is cosponsor of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS - UNAIDS |
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AusAID's HIV/AIDS Ambassador Visits UNODC ROSA Field Sites, 25-28 February 2008
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Contributed by
Kunal Kishore and
Harsheth Virk
From Left to Right - Mr. Gary Lewis, Representative, UNODC, Ms. Deepa Gajjar, Policy Officer (AusAID), Mr. Rajiv, Project In- charge, SHARAN, Ms. Harsheth Virk, Project Coordinator, UNODC, Mr. Murray Proctor, HIV/AIDS Ambassador (AusAID), Nadira Mailewa, Manager (AusAID).Australia's new HIV/AIDS Ambassador Mr. Murray Proctor was on a mission to South Asia. As part of this mission he was in India from 25-27 February 2008 and in Nepal from 28-29 February 2008. During his visit Mr. Proctor was accompanied by Ms Deepa Gajjar, a policy officer from AusAID's Health and HIV/AIDS thematic group. In India he was accompanied by Ms. Nadira Mailewa, AusAID who works with the AusAID's office in New-Delhi as a manager and in Nepal he was accompanied by Ms. Tara Gurung Country Manager, AusAID Nepal.
Mr. Proctor is concurrently the Deputy Director General (DDG) in AusAID and in this role Mr. Proctor is responsible to encourage political, business and community leaders in the Asia Pacific region to provide support and direction to address the problem of HIV/AIDS in the region.
The UNODC Regional Office for South Asia organized a briefing for Mr. Proctor on UNODC's injecting drug user (IDU) interventions in South Asia. UNODC also organised two field visits for Mr. Proctor. The first of these was on the 25th February 2008 to expose him to the field level realities that exist in the resource poor settings of South Asia, specifically in Delhi, India.
The field visit in Delhi was useful as it helped to showcase and subsequently evolve a need based understanding to the visitors about the existing and emerging concerns related to HIV and drug use at the grassroots level.
Throughout the field visit in Delhi, Mr. Proctor was involved in a series of interactions with the UNODC staff, the community members, the primary service providers and the codependents/affected population. This helped him understand the various dynamics and nuances of drug use as one of the key causative factors for HIV transmission in South Asia.
The second leg of Mr. Proctor's mission was in Nepal from 28-29 February 2008.
A joint UN meeting was held on 28 February to brief the HIV Ambassador of Australia and the Ambassador of Australia to Nepal on the HIV scenario in Nepal and the UN's response. In this context, Australia's support to IDU interventions in Nepal through UNODC and UNODC's contribution in re-establishing Methadone Maintenance Therapy (MMT) was discussed.
A site visit to the MMT Clinic located at the Tribhuvan Teaching Hospital. Kathmandu was arranged for Mr. Proctor and the team from AusAID. The Ambassador interacted with the staff at the clinic and met with drug users who have benefited from MMT. He also met with the staff of the Social Support Unit which is a part of the clinic. Following the site visit, the Head of the Psychiatry Department of Tribhuvan Hospital made a presentation on the experience of running the emergency response. During the course of Mr. Proctor's mission to Nepal, one of the key area of focus was the need to scale up MMT. |
Moments from the Field Visit
Kathmandu, Nepal
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Methadone Maintenance Therapy Programme (MMTP) staff welcoming Mr. Proctor
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Methadone Maintenance Therapy Programme (MMTP) site visit by AusAID HIV Ambassador
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Interaction with UNODC and Methadone Maintenance Therapy Programme (MMTP) personnel
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Beneficary sharing his experience with Mr. Proctor
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India
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Mr. Murray Proctor, HIV/AIDS Ambassador (AusAID) at the SHARAN site (UNODC's pilot site on Oral Substitution- Burenorphine).
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AusAID and UNODC ROSA officials at the SHARAN site (UNODC's pilot site on Oral Substitution- Burenorphine).
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Mr. Gary Lewis, Representative, UNODC, Mr. Murray Proctor, HIV/AIDS Ambassador (AusAID), Nadira Mailewa, Manager (AusAID), Ms. Deepa Gajjar, Policy Officer (AusAID), and Ms. Harsheth Virk, Project Coordinator, UNODC at the SAHARA site (UNODC's community based drop-in-centre (DIC)).
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Mr. Murray Proctor, HIV/AIDS Ambassador (AusAID), Nadira Mailewa, Manager (AusAID), Ms. Deepa Gajjar, Policy Officer (AusAID), and Ms. Harsheth Virk, Project Coordinator, UNODC at the SAHARA site (UNODC's community based drop-in-centre (DIC)).
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