Freedom Foundation is a pioneer in the fields of
Substance Abuse & HIV/AIDS Interventions in India. In a
time when HIV meant shame & silence, Freedom Foundation
that began work in the area of de-addiction, opened
doors to people infected with HIV.
The Foundation stands tall for setting up the very first
HIV ‘Comprehensive Community based Care and Support
center’ (CCSC) in India. This center that is located at
Bangalore was recognized as a model unit by NACO
(National AIDS Control Organisation) and other national
& international agencies.
Headquartered at Bangalore, the Foundation today
operates from 48 physical sites at various locations in
the 4 states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu &
Goa.
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Each location has a series of interventions that
link up the continuum of care with a wide spectrum of services.
Currently the Foundation is considered as the largest
service delivery NGO in Substance Abuse & HIV/AIDS
sectors in India. Its plethora of very successful
interventions includes a wide spectrum of activities on
Substance Abuse and HIV/AIDS that address the needs of
children, women, and men, especially from communities
that are marginalized and suffering from disease and
poverty. The Substance Abuse facilities of the
Foundation attract clients from various countries all
over the world. |
Yet among the many firsts of the Foundation is its entry
into EAP (Employee Assistance Programmes) in various public
and private sector companies in India.
Working extensively with various trade unions and senior
managements in the public sector, the Foundation
successfully demonstrated EAP programmes in large public
sector industries as well as the private sector.
Decades of ART (Anti-retroviral Treatment) rich experience,
has led the Foundation to set up an impressive and inspiring
ART facility based on a graduated cost recovery model that
is equipped to make ART accessible to 4500 clients
(treatment and care) at Bangalore and Hyderabad. Many,
especially women and children are benefited by free ART from
this project.
In line with the latest diagnostic protocols, the Foundation
has developed specialized diagnostic facilities at Bangalore
and Hyderabad. The umbrella of services covers an entire
range of diagnostic needs for communities affected by
HIV/AIDS. Various clinical and operational research
initiatives also stem out of these units.
Comprehensive Community Care and support Centers (CCSCs)
located across Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh & Goa
have addressed the care and support needs of more than
35,000 PLHIVs till date . There are 10 such CCSCs with
280 beds for transitional care of adults which accounts for
over 10% of the national care and support facilities bed
strength.CCSCs
links a large number of positive people to the Government
ART centers for treatment and actively promotes uptake of
free ART services. It thus compliments and strengthens the
Government initiatives. The main objective of the CCSCs is
to reduce morbidity, enhance health seeking behavior among
positive people and in turn enhance the Quality of their
life.
Orphan and Vulnerable Children (OVC) in the HIV/AIDS context
were within the preview of the Foundation since 1996.
Reaching out to nearly 200 children every year, the
Foundation has about 700
children registered till date. The Foundation also has
specialized facilities at Bangalore and Hyderabad that care
for HIV positive abandoned orphans.
Freedom Foundation has been one of the first organisations
in the civil society sector to set up an effective PPTCT
(Prevention of Parent To Child Transmission) intervention in
the country. There are currently two major initiatives by
the Foundation; one in and around Bangalore and the other in
and around Hyderabad. The Bangalore intervention has been
hailed as an ideal public/private partnership. The
Foundations PMTCT interventions at Bangalore work very
closely with the BBMP (Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Pallike)
and KSAPS (Karnataka State Aids Prevention Society) at the
various maternity hospitals within the public health system.
The Hyderabad intervention works within the private sector
hospitals. Both these intervention reach out to about 45,000
women annually.
Out of its vast experience the Foundation has provided
consultation and technical assistance to the Tulsi Chanrai
Foundation (Nigeria) that worked in partnership with the
Govt. of Nigeria. These operations have been successful in
replicating the Foundation’s strategies and model in
Nigeria.
Freedom Foundation is the recipient of many International
awards for its work in the Substance Abuse & HIV/AIDS
sector.
UNAIDS has published a case study of the Freedom Foundation
as a “Center of Excellence” and “Best Practice” on
Comprehensive Care.
The first Commonwealth Award for “Action on HIV/AIDS” was
conferred on the Freedom Foundation for its “Outstanding
Work in Comprehensive Care” in 2001.
The Foundation has been recipient to two Global Rounds of
funding under GFATM (Global round for AIDS, Tuberculosis and
Malaria); the Round 2 and Round 4.
The US based ASHOKA – Innovators for the Public, conferred a
Fellowship award to Dr. Ashok Rau, Executive Trustee & CEO,
Freedom Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.
UNAIDS has presented the Freedom Foundation with an award
for its work an award for “Excellence in Community Care”
this was presented by Dr. Peter Piot (Executive Director-UNAIDS)
on 4th November 2004.
The Terry Sanford Institute of Public Health (Duke
University - USA) has conferred Dr. Rau as a Senior Research
Fellow.
The achievements of Freedom Foundation lies in its sound
working strategy and an efficient team that has managed to
achieve a lot within resource limitations. While a few of
the Foundation’s initiatives are supported by grants, many
are possible only through our committed donors and
volunteers.
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