YRG CARE

YRG CARE is an NGO founded in 1993 in Chennai which provides prevention, care, treatment and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS and their families.

It has become a widely recognised model of service provision, its patient-centred approach, its comprehensive service portfolio, its commitment to client and community education, and its respect for the dignity and privacy of its clients. Because of its reputation as a source of high-quality, confidential care, YRG CARE has attracted clients not only from Chennai but throughout South India.

YRG CARE offers an unusually broad array of services, among the most comprehensive in India. Since its inception, its mission has been to provide an affordable, client-centred continuum of care that not only serves the changing needs of HIV-positive clients through all stages of disease and treatment but also addresses the prevention and support needs of families and others affected by HIV/AIDS. In addition, the organisation fulfils a larger role within the community of building prevention awareness, promoting safe and responsible sexual behaviour, reducing stigmatizing attitudes about PLHA and advocating policies that protect the rights of those affected by the epidemic.

At its facilities in Chennai, the NGO offers HIV voluntary counselling for clients, couples, and families; nutrition counselling; inpatient and outpatient care, including treatment for opportunistic infections; and home care.
Using an extensive referral network, staffs send clients to other medical facilities for surgical and similar invasive procedures and to other NGOs and PLHA networks for support.

Respondents have reported high levels of comfort after communication with YRG CARE's staff and have expressed considerable enthusiasm for nonstigmatizing, respectful way they were treated.
AS one client put it:
"The counsellor…never turned me away for questioning. There was encouragement from the doctor and counsellor to think of myself as normal, and the doctor reassured me that if anything happens he is there to take care of it. It has given me confidence."

For more details contact:

Y.R.Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education Unit of Y.R. Gaitonde Medical Educational and Research Foundation Voluntary Health Services, Taramani, Chennai 600113 India.
Or
Email: info@yrgcare.org
www.yrgcare.org

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