In India, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have been at the forefront of all health initiatives. This holds true in the case of HIV/AIDS too, where they have addressed multiple medical, social, legal, ethical and policy dimensions of the AIDS problem. Their experience in community-level work, extensive outreach to communities at grassroots and an interpersonal and participatory approach helps to enhance people's participation and a local and more appropriate response.

In the case of AIDS vaccine research and development, informed and active participation of communities is extremely important to ensure transparent and ethical conduct of clinical trials. This not only allows for the rapid enrolment, maintenance and completion of AIDS vaccine trials, but also helps facilitate:

• Integration of AIDS vaccines into an overall HIV prevention agenda
• The equitable distribution of and access to an efficacious AIDS vaccine
• Vaccine preparedness activities
• The development of local research capacity

Towards this end IAVI, has been working closely with the National Coalition on Health Initiatives (NCHI). NCHI is a group of five nationally networked NGOs which work to provide sufficient community interface in any health care initiative- research, intervention, advocacy, delivery of services etc. NCHI has been working towards building grassroots support for the programme by disseminating information on AIDS vaccines to regional NGOs through various workshops and consultations.

As part of this effort, a series of national and regional NGO workshops have been conducted with NGOs working in the field of HIV/AIDS and reproductive and sexual health in each of the six high HIV-prevalence states. The objective of these workshops was to raise the awareness on the AIDS vaccine development process by familiarising them with complex scientific, clinical and ethical concepts of AIDS vaccine research and development. Further consultations were also held with some NGOs in the states of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu to seek their inputs on advocacy strategies and IEC materials that maybe useful for disseminating information at grassroots. At each of these workshops/meetings, participating NGOs reiterated the importance of grassroots advocacy and underscored the need to build their own technical capacities for disseminating information on AIDS vaccines in their communities.

NCHI meets at regular intervals to address community concerns regarding AIDS vaccine trials and ensure the conduct of safe and ethical AIDS vaccine trials.

NCHI Members


• Freedom Foundation


• SOS Foundation


• AIDS Prevention Society


• YRG CARE


• NAZ (India) Foundation Trust


• Indian Network for Positive People Living With HIV/AIDS

"We're losing three million people a year. Treatment will slow, but not eliminate the carnage. There are 14,000 new infections daily. If we're five to ten years away from microbicides or vaccines, there's a desperate human toll to be faced between now and then.

At least let the world rally to the prospect of bringing this cataclysm to an end sooner or later. And that means working on every front, on emergency footing simultaneously: care, prevention,treatment, crobicides, vaccines."

Stephen Lewis
UN Secretary Generals Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS in Africa