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| How We Work |
LEPRA Society’s operations are primarily carried out through our own direct projects, located throughout Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. Some projects work with leprosy, tuberculosis, malaria, HIV/AIDS and disabilities, whereas others have a particular focus on one or more of these. |
An important principle in LEPRA Society’s activities is to work with, rather than for, vulnerable communities. We believe firmly in empowering those infected or affected by leprosy, TB, malaria, HIV/AIDS and disabilities and have been instrumental in the establishment and support of numerous community-based organisations (CBOs), which often spring up around an individual who has received leprosy treatment at one of our projects or in response to the concerns of a particular group in the community, such as female sex workers (FSWs) or men who have sex with men (MSMs). A key component of LEPRA Society’s work with communities is the promotion and support of Community Health Forums (CHFs), and we facilitate effective networking, as well as access to information and services, for these and other groups in the community. |
LEPRA Society works closely with other NGOs on international, national and local levels. The kinds of collaboration we have with other NGOs take many shapes. For example, LEPRA Society is a lead partner to the International HIV/AIDS Alliance and we also extend financial and technical support for seven Indian NGOs to carry out leprosy control activities. (This support covers all expenses towards salaries of staff, vehicles, fuel and maintenance, drugs, patient supplies and office expenses.) |
Our work with the Indian general health services (GHS) and national and state governments goes beyond our support of programmes such as the National Leprosy Elimination Programme (NLEP) and the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) in our direct project work and we are often asked to hare our expertise with the public sector. LEPRA Society’s Technical Support Teams (TSTs), which operate in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, work with primary health centres and District Leprosy Officers to improve the capacity of districts to deliver effective leprosy services. On request from the Andhra Pradesh State AIDS Control Society (APSACS), we have also provided extensive programmatic and technical support to Voluntary Confidential Counselling Centres (VCCTCs) and Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission Centres (PPCTCs) in the state, to ensure quality in counselling services available to persons living with HIV/AIDS. |
As an organisation, LEPRA Society emphasises the need to be dynamic and to face new challenges head on. We therefore engage in operations and research on a number of levels in order to be able to build on our strengths, promote good governance and identify innovative approaches. |
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