I met this TB Health Visitor during my recent trip to Rajkot city of Gujarat. He requested me not to disclose his original name. I will call him Babubhai in this write up.
My primary objective was to visit the Targeted Intervention (TI) HIV project for female sex workers and MSM (man who has sex with man). The project was implemented by a local NGO of Rajkot with the support of Gujarat State AIDS Control Society. Babubhai was present in the same meeting I had with the TI project staffs.
Babubhai developed a healthy relationship with the TI project staffs. He used to bring the TB patients to the TI project counselors for counseling before referring them to ICTC for HIV testing. He actively took part to disseminate key TB messages to the HIV high risk groups targeted by the TI project. It is his initiative that prompted the TI project staffs to refer the suspected TB cases (cough for more than 2 weeks) successfully to the local DMCs from the community of female sex workers, their clients and MSM groups. He set up an encouraging example of ACSM indeed.
His rapport with the local private providers (non MBBS) was phenomenal. Those providers were closely associated with the TB program because of Babubhai’s frequent interaction with them and continuous motivation. ‘It is very important to meet the private doctors in frequent intervals during the free hours of their clinic and repeatedly appreciate their services for the National Program. I learnt the technique from the medical representatives of the pharmaceutical companies. If they can make so many visits to the doctors to sell the products of their companies, why can’t I do the same for the sake of my National Program?’ commented Babubhai.
I strongly felt he probably said the last word that can definitely bring success to the PPM (Public Private Mix) strategy.
Sugata Mukhopadhyay
Universal Health
