DECEMBER 31, 2015 | for HIV/AIDS
What does it take to provide life saving HIV education to more than half a billion people?
The end of 2015 marks the realization of a dream.
When we founded TeachAids, India was one of our top target countries. With its vast population of 1.3 billion people and diversity of local languages, the odds of disseminating culturally and linguistically appropriate HIV prevention materials were stacked against us. A seemingly insurmountable obstacle was the taboo nature of HIV in India - so extreme that previous attempts to educate the masses had been banned and Indian citizens who provided sexuality education were arrested for propagating “explicit materials.”
Despite these challenges, TeachAids has this year completed its nationwide rollout in India. With the support of 22 Indian celebrities, 14 versions of our software (in seven languages) are now being actively distributed and used to educate children and reach the last mile. Here are some of our accomplishments, from December 2015 alone:
100,000 copies of the TeachAids software were distributed across the nation for free
The TeachAisd materials were broadcast on more than 30 public and private television channels
Industry giants, including Apollo Hospitals and Mahindra & Mahindra, educated patients, employees and students across the country
Tele-education program simultaneously broadcast TeachAIDS to more than 250,000 children across Karnataka
Villagers were educated through an ambitious kiosk program as well as through a train-the-trainer model in Telangana (in one of the largest village health worker initiatives in the world)
TeachAids installed on 15,000 tablets, to be used by midwives in Andhra Pradesh
National news outlets, including NDTV, The Times of India, The Hindu, Deccan Chronicle, Business Standard showcased TeachAids
This marks the end of our proactive HIV prevention work in India. We are grateful to the hundreds of people who worked thousands of hours to bring this education to the forefront of the public’s attention. Thank you for proving what is possible when tireless passion meets a bold vision for success.
