We are committed to improving the lives of marginalized populations, particularly people affected by drug use, HIV, and AIDS, by providing compassionate, rights based healthcare services. Through innovative and evidence-driven approaches, we work to empower individuals and communities, reduce stigma, and ensure access to essential health services in an effort to promote their dignity and well-being.
Evidence Based
Programming
Nai Zindagi’s evidence-based programming is central to its strategy of providing effective, targeted services to people who inject drugs (PWID) and their communities. This approach involves using real-time data, operational research, and rapid situation assessments to design and adapt programs that meet the specific needs of those affected by drug use, HIV, and related health issues. The organization’s data-driven model ensures that interventions are tailored based on the latest evidence, allowing for continual adjustments to improve effectiveness. Nai Zindagi relies on its Management Information System (MIS) to monitor service delivery, track health outcomes, and identify trends that inform program development.
This system supports the identification of gaps in care, ensuring that resources are deployed where they are needed most. Additionally, the organization conducts operational research and periodic evaluations to assess the impact of its programs. These evaluations provide crucial insights into client outcomes, which are used to refine service models, enhance treatment adherence, and scale up successful interventions. By integrating evidence into its planning, Nai Zindagi ensures that its programs are both responsive and effective in addressing the complex health needs of marginalized populations. Broader evidence available around the subject matter is also consulted, and inferences are drawn to review the holistic picture of the problem so that effective solutions can be crafted toward the desired impact.
Differentiated
Services delivery
Prevention Outreach and Harm Reduction
Nai Zindagi focuses on harm reduction to prevent the spread of HIV and hepatitis B & C. The organization provides community-based services, engaging people who inject drugs (PWID) directly in their environments. Outreach teams distribute sterile syringes, offer antiseptic dressing, and provide linkages to medical care to prevent and treat infections. This targeted approach reduces transmission risks by maintaining consistent contact with at-risk individuals and promoting safer practices among them.
Testing & Diagnostics
Comprehensive HIV and AIDS diagnostic services form a core part of Nai Zindagi’s work. The program conducts HIV testing, counseling, and referrals within communities, making these critical services accessible to vulnerable populations. The testing approach is supported by real-time data analysis, allowing for rapid response to emerging needs and providing the foundation for further interventions, including access to antiretroviral therapy (ART).
Spouse Program
The Spouse Program addresses a crucial aspect of HIV prevention and treatment by extending services to the spouses of HIV-positive PWID. It offers comprehensive HIV prevention, testing, and treatment services for spouses, ensuring they are protected and have access to ART if needed. This program closes the treatment gap for family members who are at risk due to their partners’ health conditions, promoting overall family health including the affected children where applicable.
Differentiated ART Services
In response to the challenges of ensuring ART adherence, Nai Zindagi has initiated differentiated ART services in Sindh. Medical teams travel across districts to provide ART refills and medical consultations directly to the homes of HIV-positive PWID and their spouses. This doorstep service model improves adherence rates and overall treatment outcomes by reducing barriers to healthcare access.
Prison Intervention Program
This program extends HIV services to people who use drugs (PWUD) in prisons, particularly in Sindh. The intervention provides HIV testing, counseling, and ART initiation within prison settings, addressing a key gap in healthcare for incarcerated populations. Dedicated teams offer services in 23 prisons in Sindh one prison in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The larger prisons having high number of PWUD have dedicated teams based in prisons while the other prisons are visited by mobile outreach teams sporadically depending on the needs. This initiative ensures that PWUD in prisons have access to life-saving treatment despite their incarceration.
Hepatitis C Treatment Intervention
In collaboration with the Global Fund, Nai Zindagi has initiated a pilot project to provide hepatitis C treatment to PWID who are already adherent to HIV treatment. By building on ART adherence, the program increases the likelihood of successful hepatitis C treatment, creating a model for scaling this intervention in future grant cycles. Early results show promising outcomes in hepatitis C clearance among those who completed treatment. Agha Khan Hospital is a key partner in this interventions and provides treatment and diagnostics for the complete cycle of treatment.
Voluntary
Residential Care
ART Adherence Unit (AAU)
The AAU provides residential rehabilitation and ART adherence support for HIV-Positive PWID. This program aims to stabilize clients by managing withdrawal symptoms while ensuring adherence to HIV treatment. The AAU has shown significant success, with participants being much more likely to maintain ART adherence compared to those who did not attend. The AAU has been conceived, designed and implemented by Nai ZIndagi based on its long term experience of providing rights based voluntary drug dependence treatment services for people who use drugs and it has been instrumental in maintaining HIV positive PWID on life-long ART in the absence of Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST) which is not currently available in Pakistan.
Point of Care
Diagnostics
Viral load testing
This service delivers mobile point-of-care viral load testing, allowing for real-time monitoring of ART efficacy in communities. Technicians travel to intervention sites to conduct tests, ensuring that ART patients, especially those in remote areas, receive timely assessments of their treatment progress. This approach has improved treatment outcomes, with a high proportion of PWID and their spouses achieving viral suppression.
Utilization of Data to
Optimize Service Delivery
