The 'Partnership for Sustained Impact (PSI)’ is a USD 18.3 million proposal grant awarded to PHFI from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), which is providing techno-managerial and financial support to the National AIDS Control Program Phase III (NACP III) since May 1, 2008.

Key areas of support at the national and state level include the following:

Targeted Interventions:

Currently a team of 8 PHFI consultants seconded to NACO are working as a National Technical Support Unit (NTSU) under the leadership of Director General (DG), NACO with the mandate of scaling up the prevention program across the country, which includes

• Provision of techno-managerial support to 1,271 Targeted Interventions (TIs) across the country;
• Effective scale up of TIs from 764 in March 2007 to 1,271 in March 2009 ;

Institution Building:

• Support for Technical Support Units (TSUs) for strengthening 65 TIs in Andhra Pradesh and 31 TIs in Karnataka.
• Staff support for NACO/NERO (North Eastern Regional Office) for managing 247 TIs in 8 States (Sikkim and 7 states in NE Region)
• Organizational assessment of NACO and SACS in 5 States, namely, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh;

Information, Education and Communication:

• Development and rolling out of training modules in collaboration with The Communication Hub for Program Managers, Outreach Workers, Injecting Drug Users and STI Counsellors. 2,000 copies each of all the modules are being printed for distribution to 35 SACS and TSUs across the country.
• Development of film on and Waste Disposal Management including Safe Disposal of Needles and Syringes, for IDU interventions;
• PHFI in partnership with British Broadcasting Corporation World Service Trust (BBC-WST) has supported NACO to develop films and radio spots on blood safety and condom normalization.
• Development of monographs and corporate communication material for ICAAP conference at Bali.
• Support SACS through 6 Regional Communication Officers to develop and rollout IEC Strategy at SACS level.

Capacity Building:

• Training of Project Directors of 35 SACS on Program Management and Human Resource Management, in collaboration with Family Health International (FHI), Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore and Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur;
• Training of 628 lead trainers on Program management, Out-reach, Management Information Systems and STI counselling.
• Training of 65 Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre (ICTC) District Supervisors across the country;
• 451 district level workshops for stakeholder sensitization on District AIDS Prevention and Control Units (DAPCUS) across 23 districts in Andhra Pradesh and 29 Districts in Karnataka. In all, 14,309 stakeholders from 13 line departments participated in the workshops.
• Secondment of PHFI consultant for strengthening 10 State Training and Resource Centres (STRCs) across the country;
• Strengthening TIs through on-site training and class based learning - 24 in Maharashtra, 55 in Manipur and 39 in Nagaland;

Monitoring and Evaluation:

• Support studies for Mid Term Review, including Behavioural Surveillance Survey (BSS) in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka; Data Triangulation in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka; STI Review in Tamil Nadu and HRG Mapping in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. These studies have been done through partner organisations including Indian Institute of Public Health, Hyderabad (IIPH-H), GfK Mode, India Health Action Trust (IHAT) and McKinsey.

Operational Research:

• Study on Female Sex Worker (FSW) interventions in GB Road, Delhi, to explore the possibility of developing it as a Learning Site for other FSW TIs.

Equity Analysis In Health Care Financing and Delivery is a three year, multi-country study of health systems designed to develop an understanding of equity issues in financing and delivery. The project is funded by multiple donors, such as, AusAid, IDRC, and ADB is also likely to pledge additional support. The project aims to expand and analyze the evidence base on catastrophic costs and equity in use of health services in Asia-Pacific region (about 20 countries).

Poor access to medicines is a key deterrent for persons to utilize public health services. Cost of medicines account for a sizeable share of overall health expenditure in India. Due to poor public health system and an unregulated private sector, with virtually no social health insurance coverage, households in India are increasingly bearing the burden of catastrophic health expenditure, with drugs accounting for a major share. 'Access to Medicines' is a comprehensive report covering the entire gamut of issues regarding the medicines scenario in India, exploring the inter-linkages and mapping circumstances hampering access right from the stage of research to the recipient. The project is financed by OXFAM, GB and jointly being conducted by PHFI and CENTAD.

The UK Government launched a series of awards to promote collaborative links between India and the U.K. in higher education and research under the U.K. India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI). The Public Health Foundation was successful in obtaining in collaboration with Oxford University, two post-doctoral fellowships to carry out research during 2008-2009. The fellows will collaborate with experts from PHFI for their research. The projects are: 'Implementation of Tobacco Legislation in Delhi' to understand stakeholder participation and regulatory mechanism for effective monitoring and enforcement and 'Use of inhalants amongst street and slum children in Delhi', which involves understanding the use of inhalants (especially whitener fluid) amongst street and slum children in Delhi.