HIV Awareness and Prevention Strategies
As indicated in our last year’s annual report, we have taken up a research programme in a village each in the districts of Coimbatore, Dindigul, Karur and Madurai of Tamilnadu. We have modified the HIV awareness and prevention programmes by adding a research component and using a targeted approach to it.  The major aim of the project now is to develop cost-effective, efficient, sustainable models and approaches in three components of the programme as follows:. Sexual Health of Young, Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV and Care and Support for people living with HIV/AIDS. This is an experimental cum action research programme wherein we try out various approaches in the delivery of the components of the programme, monitor and evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the approaches in producing socially desirable behavior changes that get reflected in objective indicators that can be linked to the inputs of our programmes. 
Documentation of the entire programme processes becomes imperative and therefore the programme is expensive. However, considering the seriousness of the problem and the need to come up with innovative solutions to tackle it, the potential returns on our investment are high.  We believe that successful approaches can be duplicated elsewhere so that behavior change that would minimize exposure to HIV infection is promoted in a wider geographical area.  In order for the results of our action research programmes to be valid and reliable, we need to increase the number of villages where these experimental approaches can be tried. We do hope that in the years to come, we will be able to garner adequate resources to continue our action research project.  The salient features of our programmes are related to various combination of community based approaches, social network approaches, and using interested and influential leaders of the community.  The problem gets defined in the villagers’ own terms, priorities are arranged in order, awareness created, pervasive social approval generated, and community decision making encouraged on various approaches to produce the socially desirable behavior changes. In case of persons who already carry the HIV infection, the first task is to minimize the stigma effects, counseling and confidence building of the affected, working for social acceptance, and training the affected for productive employment depending on their endowments, experience and skills.  Taking care of the medical costs to protect the HIV affected and prolong their life as much as possible is done by making use of the Government channels and we liaise with the government and non-government channels to maintain the regular supply of drugs. The results of the research are being analyzed and will be sent for publication to an appropriate scientific journal. Further, a report on the project is being prepared and will be ready in the next few months or so.

Research on Filariasis
The research on Filariasis was taken up a few years before and some of the data collected remained to be analyzed and the analysis was taken up in collaboration with Dr P. Vanamail of the Vector Control Research Centre, Pondicherry.  The report prepared based on the analysis entitled, Possible Relationship Among Socio-economic Determinants, Knowledge, and Practice Measures on Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) and their Implication on LF Elimination in India, has been sent for publication to the International Journal of Public Health. In collaboration with Dr. P. Vanamail, we have already published two papers: one in Demography –India, Vol 35. No. 1 (2006: pp. 159-171 entitled, A Study on Risk Factors of Wucheria Bancroftian Filarial Disease in :Pondicherry and one in Journal Public Health (2008) 16:339-346 entitled, A Quantitative Analysis of the Socio-economic Determinants of Health Seeking Behavior Related to Bancroftian Filariasis and its Impact on Elimination: A Case Control Study in Pondicherry, India. Reprints of the already published articles and the one being submitted for publication are attached for review by the members. 

Awareness of Non-Communicable and Degenerative diseases :
As the Indian society is passing through a process of epidemiologic transition, increasingly larger and larger share of morbidity is being taken over by non-communicable and degenerative diseases.  However, awareness levels about the etiology of the disease and the measures for prevention and behavior required for effective prevention are woefully abysmal.  In order to gauge the awareness levels regarding degenerative diseases as cancer, hypertension, coronary artery diseases, and diabetes, we have undertaken a study in the villages that come under our jurisdiction. The data have been collected using a structured questionnaire as well as conducting focus group interviews with several homogeneous groups. The data completion is yet to be completed from three of the villages we had selected for the study.  The collected data are being processed to enable computer analysis of data and we have also acquired the necessary computer software for the purpose. When the data collection is completed, the data will be analyzed. The analysis would suggest appropriate information and communication strategies that would enhance awareness levels so that necessary behavior change that would be effective in preventing incidence of these diseases could be formulated and implemented.

Incidence of Tuberculosis (TB) in Rural Areas :
In spite of several years of TB control programmes, it has been recognized now that TB is showing its ugly head in several rural areas of the country.  The combination of the prevalence of HiV and TB enables development of a more virulent form of Tuberculosis.  In order to assess the prevalence levels in the communities and to initiate appropriate information and communication strategies suitable to the rural areas, a research study has been undertaken by asking a set of simple questions regarding the awareness about the causes of the disease, methods of prevention and facilities for treatment once a person is infected by the disease.  The data have been collected by our field workers and it is being analyzed for preparing a report and later will be sent for publication.