Developing a National Safety Net: How NoSTDs is Working Toward Free, Accessible STI Testing Across India

By the NoSTDs Team

 Sexual health continues to be one of the least discussed yet significant public health challenges within India. Many millions of people will not have tested positive for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) they never wanted to contract: they care about their health, but testing is too costly or too far away, or an act that has become embarrassing in some way. At NoSTDs we believe, and George — our founder — with the rest of the team thinks it too, that this needs to change for the better; and it can if you have the right institutions getting together.

 In this post, we articulate that vision - how NoSTDs aims to partner with the public health infrastructure in India as well as global health networks and India's largest funders, to create a world without barriers accessing STI testing – available free, private and everywhere.

So why partnerships rather than apps alone?

 Our new technologies can make optimal testing easier to find and book. However, technology alone will not solve the problem of funding free tests, staffing clinics or reaching rural India. It needs to partner with organizations that already run this infrastructure at scale. This is why NoSTDs growth strategy is to partner with government health agencies, global health organizations, and corporate foundations instead of trying to create a whole new infrastructure from scratch.

Government of India: The Foundation of Our India Strategy

Our top and the only goal is an operational partnership with India's national HIV/AIDS agency, the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) which operates under the Ministry of Health. There are over 700 Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres (ICTCs) across the country managed by NACO. This formal collaboration — a signed MOU first, as opposed to a commercial contract — may even instantly provide NoSTDs with access to an existing and trusted national testing network. This is our sole highest priority relationship on the roadmap, and George is writing our first introduction letter to NACO's office in Delhi.

 Alongside NACO, we're hoping to build ties with:

 ● ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) — for data collaboration and research partnership on STI trends in India.

● NHM (National Health Mission) — A hub for state level health programmes and rural health outreach which NoSTDs could tap into.

● State Health Departments in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka — for local rollout, centre referrals, and free testing camps.

● NIC (National Informatics Centre) — which manages government digital health systems and prison health management programmes. 

Each of these would require a government-appropriate approach: MOUs, not sales pitches. 

Global Health Institutions: Aligning With International Targets

STI and HIV elimination is a global priority, and NoSTDs wants to be part of that global effort, not separate from it. Organizations we hope to eventually work alongside include:

 ● WHO India — the World Health Organization's country office, which runs global STI elimination programmes we'd like to align with through co-branding and shared awareness campaigns.

● UNAIDS — the UN's HIV/AIDS programme, known for its "90-90-90" testing targets, which could be a natural funding and target-alignment partner.

● UNFPA (UN Population Fund) — which runs sexual and reproductive health programmes across India.

● UNICEF India — for youth-focused awareness campaigns and school-based sexual health education.

All of these partnerships would run through the UN's own channels for health tech partnerships — a lengthier, more formal affair than a usual corporate partnership, but one with immense legitimacy if accomplished. 

Non-Profit Funding: Making "Free" Actually Possible 

“Free testing” is unsustainable unless it’s paid for. Which is exactly why grant funding from the biggest foundations centrally underpin our model. Foundations on our radar include:

● The Gates Foundation — the world's largest global health funder, which takes applications online — and has a history of granting funds for free-testing programmes.

● Tata Trusts — one of India's oldest and most trusted CSR health funders.

● Infosys Foundation and Wipro Foundation — both active in health and digital-India CSR mandates.

● Azim Premji Foundation — combining education and health CSR funding.

● Reliance Foundation — active in both health and Digital India initiatives. 

All of these would either take a bespoke grant proposal or a direct pitch to the relevant CSR head – exactly the kind of work that George is already scoping out. 

Learning From Global Models

Finally, we are studying examples of successful testing networks created internationally by other public health agencies such as: 

● The CDC (USA) — for STD surveillance data and global awareness campaign models.

● The NHS (UK) — have a sexual health clinic model we want to take a look at for potentially doing something similar with in the UK-market

● China CDC (中国疾控中心) — for STD surveillance approaches that are relevant to potential future partnership in the China market

● PEPFAR — the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a major HIV funding body globally 

They are not announced partnerships — they are milestones and prospects for long-term collaboration as NoSTDs expands internationally. 

What Comes Next

Working with real institutions, whether that be NACO or WHO or the Gates Foundation — real partnerships take time and formal proposals and mutual respect — this is not done overnight, we will not announce them until they are signed. We can promise transparency-and so as these conversations progress, we would like to keep this page and our community updated here with facts, as opposed to dreams that are disguised as announcements.

We work for any of the above organizations and want to see what a real collaboration looks like? Reach out.

 

— The NoSTDs Team