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Abstract Background Avahan, the India AIDS Initiative, implemented a large HIV prevention programme across six high HIV prevalence states amongst high risk groups consisting of female sex workers, high risk men who have sex with men, transgenders and injecting drug users in India. Utilization of the clinical services, health seeking behaviour and trends in syndromic diagnosis of sexually transmitted infections amongst these populations were measured using the individual tracking data. Methods The Avahan clinical monitoring system included individual tracking data pertaining to clinical services amongst high risk groups. All clinic visits were recorded in the routine clinical monitoring system using unique identification numbers at the NGO-level. Visits by individual clinic attendees were tracked from January 2005 to December 2009. An analysis examining the limited variables over time, stratified by risk group, was performed. Results A total of 431,434 individuals including 331,533 female sex workers, 10,280 injecting drug users, 82,293 men who have sex with men, and 7,328 transgenders visited the clinics with a total of 2,700,192 visits. Individuals made an average of 6.2 visits to the clinics during the study period. The number of visits per person increased annually from 1.2 in 2005 to 8.3 in 2009. The proportion of attendees visiting clinics more than four times a year increased from 4% in 2005 to 26% in 2009 (p Conclusions The programme demonstrated that acceptable and accessible services with marginalised and often difficult–to-reach populations can be brought to a very large scale using standardized approaches. Utilization of these services can dramatically improve health seeking behaviour and reduce STI prevalence.

Abstract Background Recent advances in sequencing techniques leading to cost reduction have resulted in the generation of a growing number of sequenced eukaryotic genomes. Computational tools greatly assist in defining open reading frames and assigning tentative annotations. However, gene functions cannot be asserted without biological support through, among other things, mutational analysis. In taking a genome-wide approach to functionally annotate an entire organism, in this application the ~11,000 predicted genes in the rice blast fungus (Magnaporthe grisea), an effective platform for tracking and storing both the biological materials created and the data produced across several participating institutions was required. Results The platform designed, named PACLIMS, was built to support our high throughput pipeline for generating 50,000 random insertion mutants of Magnaporthe grisea. To be a useful tool for materials and data tracking and storage, PACLIMS was designed to be simple to use, modifiable to accommodate refinement of research protocols, and cost-efficient. Data entry into PACLIMS was simplified through the use of barcodes and scanners, thus reducing the potential human error, time constraints, and labor. This platform was designed in concert with our experimental protocol so that it leads the researchers through each step of the process from mutant generation through phenotypic assays, thus ensuring that every mutant produced is handled in an identical manner and all necessary data is captured. Conclusion Many sequenced eukaryotes have reached the point where computational analyses are no longer sufficient and require biological support for their predicted genes. Consequently, there is an increasing need for platforms that support high throughput genome-wide mutational analyses. While PACLIMS was designed specifically for this project, the source and ideas present in its implementation can be used as a model for other high throughput mutational endeavors.