Discounts for India sex workers
Sex workers are being given smart cards in the southern Indian city
of Mysore as part of a project to combat AIDs.
Card holders get discounts at selected shops for groceries and
clothes, and some restaurants, on the condition they have regular
health checks.
Officials say this pilot project is the first of its kind in
India.
The scheme is sponsored by the AIDs India Initiative run by the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It aims to cover more than 1,000
sex workers.
The card carries all the medical details of the sex worker, who is
checked for sexually transmitted diseases on a regular basis at a
clinic in Mysore.
"If they fail to turn up for a check-up every three months, the
smart card automatically becomes invalid," says Sushena Reza-Paul,
of the Karnataka Health Promotion Trust that is overseeing the
scheme.
Extension possible
Ms Reza-Paul, who works at the University of Manitoba in Canada
that is playing a role in the project, says the programme could
well be extended to other cities and towns across India.
"We are already getting calls from different places. Once the pilot
project is completed, we will tabulate the findings and see how the
scheme can be implemented," Ms Reza-Paul told the BBC.
"Shops and restaurants were initially reluctant to be associated
with the project but eventually agreed.
"Now the card-holders feel they are part of the mainstream. Their
self-esteem has gone up," she says.