Integrated Service on Health and Development Organization /ISHDO/ in its previous name ISAPSO established in 1997 with a dream to see HIV free society in the country. It has made its significant share and registered remarkable results contributing to the national effort to realize the dream.
Its 20 years travel through breaking the silence in awareness creation, IEC production and distribution, social mobilization to care and support, on fighting stigma and discrimination, and promoting treatment services in the Dropping centers has registered magnificent result. Its effort in working in partnership with both national and International funding Organizations, GO and NGO stakeholders has tremendously minimized the death rate due to AIDS. Yet those remaining few deaths left us again with helpless Orphans, old mothers and fathers with no one to take care, and this make the continuation of the intervention to fight not as choice but as an obligation. No one Strategy that is used to curve the problem so far is absolute, rather it needs to deepen its content and to stretch the area of intervention in the prevention, care and support because the nature of the virus might change in adapting itself to the different drugs in use.The attitude of the society towards its transmission is as well changing without a significant change in their life style.
When we say great job has been done towards awareness creation, it is by no means to say people are well aware to prevent themselves and others, by no means tosay no stigma and discrimination, and to conclude the prevention work is over.Although Great job is done in this regard, knowledge that brings about change on attitude is progressive that requires to update the skills on knowledge transmission so as to make the knowledge fit in to the changes in the total set up of the society brought by cultural, economic and environment development.Change in attitude never be a time bound circumstance thus we continue to promote and support to strengthen institutions and strategies to accelerate the work on HIV prevention, care and support, livelihood development and strategies and interventions that fit in to the different situations and circumstances. We therefore again call upon our partners to be in our side and support us to meet our dream to see HIV free and economically self-reliant society.
Aklilu Nega
Executive Director
Integrated Service on Health and Development