About Us

The International Alliance for the Prevention of AIDS (IAPA) was founded in 2004 after the founding members traveled to Arusha, Tanzania to teach HIV/AIDS prevention education in schools and community groups with the group Support for International Change. Inspired by the grassroots model and community emphasis, and realizing that India was at a crucial point in the fight against HIV, the founders created IAPA to combat the spread of HIV in India, basing the organization in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

IAPA was based in Chennai for two reasons. First and foremost, according to the UNAIDS and the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO),the southern region of the country shoulders the heaviest burden of HIV infections, with Tamil Nadu having high incidence and prevalence rates for HIV infection and AIDS, Second, Tamil Nadu is widely recognized as having the best health infrastructure in India with regard to HIV, with surveillance, testing, and targeting of high risk groups all serving as essential focal programs of NGO’s and government organizations. These conditions allowed IAPA to easily integrate into the HIV prevention and treatment network of Chennai, while focusing on groups that were previously not targeted, such as youth and university students.

By the summer of 2005, IAPA was a federally registered non-profit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the federal tax code. In 2006, IAPA India was registered as a Charitable Trust in Chennai, run completely in-country by local staff. IAPA has since run five successful summer volunteer programs, bringing over 90 American students together with over 55 Indian students to teach HIV prevention education to thousands of secondary school and university students, slum residents, fishermen, and HIV hospice visitors. The IAPA India staff has collaborated with several other Chennai based NGOs to produce several street plays and community education programmes. IAPA and IAPA India are currently preparing programs to facilitate greater community cooperation, monitoring and evaluation of HIV projects around the city, and stigma reduction education programs.