CHARME Project :

The CHARME Project is funded by a 7 year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), to monitor and evaluate its Avahan HIV/AIDS programme in India. The Project is managed by the Centre Hospitalier Affilié universitaire de Quebec (CHA), Canada. The major goal of the project is to study HIV transmission dynamics among and between core, bridge and general population groups and to assess the impact of HIV preventive interventions, using a combination of mathematical modelling and empirical data. In addition, the CHARME Project has a component to assess the cost-effectiveness of interventions in the four southern states of India covered by Avahan.

In order to facilitate the mathematical modelling, the CHARME Project collects data on sexual behaviour through serial cross-sectional surveys of general populations (GPS). In these surveys, respondents are asked to respond to a face-to-face interview and to provide blood and urine samples for STI and HIV testing. In addition, and as part of the GPS, the Project conducts polling booth surveys (PBS) of a sample of randomly selected people in the same district to validate the findings of the face-to-face interviews. The Project also undertakes quantitative and qualitative research in special behavioural surveys (SBS) of vulnerable populations such as FSWs, MSM and their clients.

In India, the CHARME project is housed in the Karnataka Health Promotion Trust (KHPT) office and has an agreement with KHPT to provide administrative and logistical support to the project. In Karnataka, CHARME works closely with the University of Manitoba, the Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society (KSAPS) and with the KHPT, who together are the key implementers of HIV/AIDS prevention and care programming in the state. The University of Manitoba and KHPT and CHA are committed to transferring knowledge gained into the global effort to limit the impact of HIV/AIDS.

CHARME II

The CHARME Project funded by a 5-year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) through its phase II grants. The Project is managed by the Centre Hospitalier Affilié universitaire de Quebec (CHA), Canada. The major goal of the project is to assess HIV transmission dynamics and the collective impact of all HIV prevention programming in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, and to enhance the analytical capacity of key Indian institutions to carry on with similar work in the future.

This project is a collaborative effort of eight institutions. CHA (lead institution of the project); the University of Manitoba, in partnership with the Karnataka Health Promotion Trust; St. John’s Medical College, Bangalore, India; the Public Health Foundation of India, Delhi, India; the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK; and the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, UK. All these institutes are committed to transferring knowledge gained into the global effort to limit the impact of HIV/AIDS through this project.

The main outputs of the project will include the availability of a centralised VPN-based data repository of validated relevant M&E and population health research data, the improvement in routine data collection systems, the production and dissemination of a report on the state of the epidemic and assessment of the collective impact of HIV preventive interventions twice during the course of the project, the development and dissemination of a user-friendly model for impact assessment of HIV preventive interventions adapted to the Indian context, presentations in scientific conferences and peer-reviewed publications with involvement of Indian partners, development of a capacity building program targeted at Indian academic and research institutions that will allow increasing involvement of these partners institutions in the analytical work over the course of the project, and development of another capacity building program targeted at national, state and district-level AIDS control organizations in order to ensure evidence-based HIV strategic planning and programming

	Charme Working Papers
	1. Rajaram S, Sangameshwar BM, Jayachandran AA, Bradley J, Alary M, Ramesh BM, Washington R. HIV and STIs in Belgaum district, Karnataka, India. A general population survey. CHARME Working Paper no.1, June 2008, CHARME Project, Bangalore, India.
	2. Sangameshwar BM, Pradeep BS, Rajaram S, Jayachandran A.A, Bradley J, Alary M, Moses S, Ramesh BM, Washington R. HIV and STIs in Mysore district, Karnataka, India. A general population survey. CHARME Working Paper no.2, November 2008, CHARME Project, Bangalore, India.
	3. Rajaram S, Sangameshwar B.M, Jayachandran A.A, Bradley J, Alary M, Ramesh BM, Washington R. HIV and STIs in Bellary district, Karnataka, India. A general population survey. CHARME Working Paper no.3, June 2008, CHARME Project, Bangalore, India.
	4. Aubé-Maurice J. Sexual and gender relations and their influence on the risk of HIV transmission in south India. Testimonies from clients of sex workers. CHARME Working Paper no.4, August 2009, CHARME Project, Bangalore, India.
	5. Beattie T, Bradley J, Shetty A, Uma Devi Vanta , Lowndes C, Alary M. The evolution of female sex work in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh: a qualitative study of HIV-related issues. CHARME Working Paper no.5, October 2009, CHARME Project, Bangalore, India.
	6. Roy A. A comparison of female sex work, condom use and exposure to programme interventions in 3 Indian districts. CHARME Working Paper no.6, November 2009, CHARME Project, Bangalore, India.
	7. Phillips A , Bradley J ,Rajaram S ,Gurav K , Lowndes C , Anthony J, Chacko S, Isaac S, Alary M. Sexual behaviour and HIV risk among men who have sex with men, and transgendered individuals in Bangalore, India. CHARME Working Paper no.7, December 2009, CHARME Project, Bangalore, India.
	8. Shetty A, Bradley J, James A, Lowndes C, Alary M. HIV risk and vulnerability in female sex workers in Mumbai, reflections from the field. CHARME Working Paper no.8, April 2010, CHARME Project, Bangalore, India.
	9. Rajaram S, Beattie T, Jaychandran AA, Lowndes C, Alary M, Bradley J. Programme exposure, sexual mixing, condom use and anal sex among female sex workers in Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh”, CHARME Working Paper no.9, April 2010, CHARME Project, Bangalore, India.
	10. Rajaram S, Roy A, Gurav K, Mohapatra BB, Anthony J, Ramesh BM, Jaychandran AA, Lowndes C, Alary M, Bradley J. Programme exposure, condom use, and alcohol use among female sex workers in urban Bangalore, Karnataka state. CHARME Working Paper No.10, April 2010, CHARME Project, Bangalore, India.
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