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{{Use Indian English|date=February 2016}}
{{Infobox organisation
|name = Avahan
|bgcolor =
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|image = AvahanLogo.jpg
|image_border =
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|abbreviation =
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|formation = 2003
|extinction =
|type =
|status =
|purpose = [[HIV]] prevention
|headquarters =
|location =
|region_served = South India and Northeast States
|membership =
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|parent_organisation = [[Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation]]
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|website = http://www.gatesfoundation.org/avahan/
|remarks =
}}

'''Avahan''' is an initiative sponsored by the [[Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation]] to reduce the spread of [[HIV]] in [[India]]. It began in 2003. As of 2009 the Gates Foundation had pledged {{US$|338 million}} to the programme. The programme aims to reduce HIV transmission and the prevalence of STIs in vulnerable high-risk populations, notably female sex workers, [[Men who have sex with men|MSM]], and transgender people, through prevention education and services such as condom promotion, STI management, behaviour change communication, community mobilisation, and advocacy. Avahan works in six states, whilst [[India HIV/AIDS Alliance]] is the state lead partner in Andhra Pradesh. By 2013, control of the program transitioned to the Government of India.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sgaier |first1=Sema K. |last2=Ramakrishnan |first2=Aparajita |last3=Dhingra |first3=Neeraj |last4=Wadhwani |first4=Alkesh |last5=Alexander |first5=Ashok |last6=Bennett |first6=Sara |last7=Bhalla |first7=Aparajita |last8=Kumta |first8=Sameer |last9=Jayaram |first9=Matangi |last10=Gupta |first10=Pankaj |last11=Piot |first11=Peter K. |last12=Bertozzi |first12=Stefano M. |last13=Anthony |first13=John |title=How The Avahan HIV Prevention Program Transitioned From The Gates Foundation To The Government Of India |journal=Health Affairs |date=1 July 2013 |volume=32 |issue=7 |pages=1265–1273 |doi=10.1377/hlthaff.2012.0646 |pmid=23836743 |url=https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2012.0646 |access-date=14 May 2021}}</ref>

==Founding==
The [[Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation]] launched Avahan in 2003 for the purpose of developing a model HIV prevention system in India and promoting others in India and worldwide to adapt and adopt their model.<ref name="factsheet">{{cite web |url=http://www.gatesfoundation.org/avahan/Documents/Avahan_FactSheet.pdf |title=Avahan – The India AIDS Initiative, Fact Sheet |date=December 2009 |work=Avahan |publisher=[[Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation]] |access-date=17 January 2011}}</ref>

==Strategy==
Rather than staffing HIV prevention workers on its own, Avahan provides government health organisations and [[NGO]]s with the tools they need to conduct HIV prevention on their own. Avahan's primary prevention techniques include the following:<ref name="factsheet"/>
*training social workers to do [[peer education]]
*funding [[sexually transmitted infection]] (STI) testing and treatment
*distributing condoms
*forcing communities who receive any aid to take total responsibility for the management of that aid
*funding social media to reduce stigma associated with STIs
*fostering access to HIV care and treatment

==Communication difficulty==
In 2005 an internal report determined that local people and even peer outreach workers had difficulty understanding the nature of Avahan's funded community partners. Specifically, local people had trouble understanding what services Avahan clinics and educators were offering.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/0803/avahan-aids-prostitution-bill-gates-indian-education.html |title=Bill Gates' Indian Education |author=Elizabeth Flock |date=3 August 2009 |work=[[Forbes]] |access-date=17 January 2011}}</ref>

==Impact==
In October 2011 a study published in [[The Lancet]] concluded that between 2003-8 in areas where the Avahan project was active the program lowered community rates of HIV acquisition with an increase in protection relative to increased funding per person.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-15254805 |title=Bill Gates India scheme 'spared 100,000 from HIV' |work=bbc.co.uk |date=11 October 2011 |access-date=11 October 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | author = Marie Ng | year = 2011| title = Assessment of population-level effect of Avahan, an HIV-prevention initiative in India | journal = The Lancet | volume = 378| issue = 9803| pages = 1643–1652| doi = 10.1016/S0140-6736(11)61390-1| pmid = 21993161| s2cid = 29195137| url = http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2811%2961390-1/fulltext | access-date = 11 October 2011}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.gatesfoundation.org/avahan/ Avahan]{{Dead link|date=November 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

[[Category:2003 establishments in India]]
[[Category:HIV/AIDS in India]]
[[Category:Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation]]
[[Category:HIV/AIDS organizations]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 2003]]
[[Category:Medical and health organisations based in India]]

Avahan - Revision history

>Citation bot at 01:05, 16 May 2021