Enhancing Coverage and Service Uptake among Migrants: Learning’s from Pilot Project in India

Abstract

Background: The migrant intervention in India was initiated during the National AIDS Control Program (NACP) Phase-2 (2002-2007). Even by the end of NACP Phase-3 (2010-11); the coverage of migrants remained very low. USAID PHFI-PIPPSE project in collaboration with the National AIDS Control Organization worked on development of Migrant Service Delivery System (MSDS) to track migrant’s movement and to enhance coverage of migrants across source-destination corridors. In India, there are three important migration corridors; this abstract presents the experience of MSDS across Thane-Uttar Pradesh (UP) Corridor.

Description: MSDS is a web-enabled system, designed and rolled out to track migrants’ movements across corridors. Under MSDS, migrants at Thane (destination) were enrolled into the program and were given unique IDs to track their service uptake across the source-destination corridor. All registered migrants were classified by their service requirements and movement pattern. For migrants visiting source districts in UP, pre-departure information was shared online (through MSDS) from Thane with program implementers at source districts in UP for identifying geographies of high out migration and deciding on the timing for conducting health camps during their stay in native state.

Lessons learned: The 83 health camps organized in UP during 2015-16 indicated that footfalls of migrants per camp was 132 where geography and timing for organizing camps was done through MSDS compared to 82 per camp organized in non-MSDS sites. Moreover, with the strategic planning of the health camps, yieldin MSDS sites in terms of HIV positivity was twice (1.1% in MSDS sites vs 0.5% in non MSDS sites).

Conclusions/Next steps: MSDS provided an innovative way of identifying the geographies (blocks and villages) of high out migration. This helped in organizing health camps at prioritized locations leading to increase in coverage and HIV testing yield.