The southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu are geographic “hot spots” for the country’s HIV epidemic. It is feared that the epidemic, now concentrated among high-risk groups, could spread farther in the state and to the general population. Port cities historically are entry points for diseases to enter and spread. India is third in the world after South Africa and Nigeria in the number of HIV infections.

The Connect Project is one of three components under the $49-million Enhance Project that works to address HIV/AIDS in India. The project builds and leverages public-private partnerships to increase the use of prevention, care and treatment interventions that will mitigate the effects of HIV/AIDS. The project encourages leadership and networking between the organized and unorganized private sector, NGOs and government facilities to provide the prevention-to-care continuum of services. The project is:

• Mobilizing companies in Karnataka and coastal Andhra Pradesh to adopt and implement workplace HIV/AIDS policies and programs with an emphasis on both formal and informal workers;
• Encouraging companies In selected locations with high levels of prevalence, risk behavior and industrial intensity, to develop, fund and implement highly visible HIV prevention-to-care programs for informal workplace audiences or other risk groups;
• Expanding existing interventions in six ports and strengthening them into comprehensive prevention-care-treatment interventions, supported over time by contributions from private enterprise;
• Implementing three models of services for Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission (PPTCT) through private sector and learning for future expansion; and
• Networking and advocacy with insurance and pharmaceutical companies to assess best practices and policies related to these industries that are essential to the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS.

The project supports the Indo-US Corporate Fund to leverage financial commitments from the private sector and provides technical assistance in private sector programming on HIV/AIDS to USG partners, state governments, the national government and other stakeholders.