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| Contributing Partner: |
Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs |
| Contact: |
Kim Martin |
| Email: |
kmartin@jhuccp.org |
| Phone: |
410-659-6140 |
| Country: |
India |
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Summary:
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 When Mumbai office workers opened their lunchboxes on World AIDS Day (December 1), they found a variety of HIV/AIDS prevention messages in addition to their meal. The Health Communication Partnership (HCP) is implementing this innovative workplace program together with a lunch delivery practice unique to Mumbai ( Bombay ) that will ultimately reach about 200,000 offices. The lunches, known as “dabbas,” will be delivered by about 5,000 “Dabbawalas,” who are members of a daily delivery network throughout Mumbai that uses a highly efficient and effective relay system. |
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Description:
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The Chief Minister of Maharashtra along with the Deputy Chief Minister, Health Minister, and other senior government officials supported the initiative with great enthusiasm and also received their own dabbas from the Dabbawalas with the AIDS prevention messages at a public function at Thane, Mumbai.
HIV/AIDS is fast becoming one of the biggest public health challenges faced by India . According to the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) of India , the number infected in 2002 ranged from 3.82 million to 4.58 million. Within India , Maharashtra has one of the highest numbers of people living with HIV, which is no longer restricted to high-risk groups and spreading to the general population. In response to these trends, HCP — based at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Communication Programs — is supporting efforts to stem HIV/AIDS in Maharashtra .
The Dabbawala program is part of the Work Place Intervention (WPI), a key activity being implemented by HCP in collaboration with AVERT Society in Maharashtra and supported by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). HCP partnered with the Dabbawala association to insert creatively designed materials and coasters bearing HIV/AIDS messages based on the global World AIDS Day theme “Stop AIDS, Keep the Promise.”
“The commitment we have from the Dabbawala association to raise public discussions about HIV/AIDS will help stimulate conversation about HIV/AIDS at the workplace,” said Sonalini Mirchandani, HCP's country representative in India . This will create an environment in which issues related to HIV and AIDS can be addressed more openly.
AVERT provided about 5,000 red ribbons for the Dabbawalas to wear on their shirts for the World AIDS Day effort. The Dabbawala system is a century-old practice, perhaps with no parallel in the world. They are featured in top management schools worldwide and Forbes magazine recognized Dabbawala with a Six Sigma quality rating, meaning there is only one error in every six million transactions The Dabbawalas implementing the workplace program come predominantly from Sangli and Solapur, two priority districts for AVERT. They are not only a channel for reaching Mumbai workers, but also an audience themselves for HIV/AIDS prevention messages.
HCP has begun a series of educational programs for them with a more comprehensive one being designed in partnership with AVERT.
Mr. Sopan Laxman Mare and Raghumath Medge, of the Dabbawala board, said that it was a privilege for them to offer the power and reach of their network to help HIV/AIDS. “It is our way of reaching out to our communities,” they said.
The media was also mobilized to support and promote the Dabbawala program. Radio City FM 91 encouraged people to wear the red ribbons and to SMS ‘CARE' signifying their commitment to the fight against HIV/AIDS. Radio City FM also broadcast programs addressing myths and misconceptions around HIV/AIDS, interviews with a medical doctor on frequently asked questions about HIV/AIDS, interviews with the dabbawalas and with people living with HIV/AIDS. An hourly quiz on facts related to HIV/AIDS drew an enthusiastic response.
HCP, working with AVERT, has also reached out to corporations to address HIV/AIDS at work. Corporate advocacy folders for CEOs were designed and disseminated in July on Occupational Health Day and in September at a Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility in New Delhi . The CEOs signed pledges at Mumbai and Delhi signifying their commitment to addressing HIV/AIDS at the workplace. Year 2006 desk calendars containing their pledges and key prevention actions remind CEOs, senior HR personnel and welfare officers of their commitment. HCP is also producing an advocacy film on WPI, for industry heads and managers.
HCP is a strategic communication global initiative based at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Communication Programs in partnership with the Academy for Educational Development, Save the Children, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, and Tulane University 's School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. In addition to the five core partners, HCP works with leading Southern-based health communication organizations as well as global programming partners from the corporate sector, international media, academic institutions, and faith-based organizations. For more information, visit www.hcpartnership.org. |
| URL: |
http://www.jhuccp.org/pressroom/2005/12-01.shtml
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