The power of profit: People-led social enterprises
SHOBHA SHUKLA - CNS
Social entrepreneurship is making a difference in sustaining people-led service delivery models
(Image by CNS) Details DMCA
While community-led organisations are playing a critical role in the people-centred delivery of HIV prevention, care and treatment services, financial sustainability often becomes a major roadblock for them. Social entrepreneurship could be an innovative business model to generate revenue and keep them afloat, despite shrinking donor funding. Apart from creating financial stability, social enterprises also impact innovative HIV prevention, treatment and care models, new partnerships with the private sector, and increased inclusion for gender diverse people.
A few such thriving social enterprises were showcased at the world's largest AIDS conference (25th International AIDS Conference or AIDS 2024). One such example that struck me was the first peer-led pharmacy TAAL (Treatment, Adherence, Advocacy and Literacy) of India that was established in 2006 in Pune by the Network of Maharashtra People Living with HIV (NMP+).
The birth of TAAL
The brain behind starting this enterprise is Manoj Pardeshi, founding member of (NMP+), and also of National Coalition of People Living with HIV in India (NCPI+).
"In those initial years, there was no funding. Later donors came but their funding was as per their own respective mandates, while the needs of the community could be different. So we thought of having a separate funding mechanism that would cater to our unmet needs. That is how TAAL became a social entrepreneur model to provide quality antiretroviral medicines at affordable rates to those who were accessing treatment in the private sector," shared Manoj.
He clarified that while free HIV treatment is available in India's public health sector, some people living with HIV prefer seeking treatment from the private sector due to fear of stigma, discrimination, loss of confidentiality, or other reasons. There was a need for avenues to provide subsidised, affordable and quality-assured medications to them in a community-friendly and stigma-free environment. Thus was born TAAL - a peer-led community pharmacy to provide high-quality and affordable diagnostics, treatment and peer-counselling services to people living with HIV, especially those who were accessing treatment from the private sector.
TAAL tapped into the corporate social responsibility programmes of pharmaceutical companies, and received lifesaving antiretroviral medicines for less than one-third to one-tenth of their price in the open market, passing on the financial benefits to its clientele.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
