Introduction Any complete program on health ought to educate people on the need to take proper care of themselves by living a healthy lifestyle. An effective health program aspires to manage the health of people by ensuring quick access to affordable health care. At the same time, many ignore the fact that people infected with HIV engage in sexual activities. A strong health promotion program seeks to prevent HIV which is vital to curbing onward transmission. One of such programs, the Sonagachi Project, was implemented in the 1990s (Jana et al., 2004). The project addresses issues Indian sex workers face in their trade. The project is not concerned with promoting prevention strategies only (though it is one of issues addressed), but it aims at developing proper relationships among the stakeholders involved and fostering proper attitudes towards sex workers, health safety and the trade itself. Taking into account the results of the case study conducted by Cornish and Ghosh, instances of people in India becoming infected with the HIV virus have increased recently, which is given as a reason for conducting the research known as the Sonagachi Project. This essay gives some background information on the HIV epidemic and the methods necessary to prevent infection. Then, the Sonagachi Project on a sustainable community intervention program (Jana et al., 2004) is compared to components of a quality health promotion. HIV HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus which has now become a global epidemic (Dutta & Maiga, 2011). HIV attacks the human body by lowering the body’s level of immunity therefore making it vulnerable to other diseases (National AIDS Control Organization, 2001, p.10). HIV can go undetected for a long time with the sufferer experiencing only mild symptoms such as common cold, fever and cough. After a series of attacks from other common diseases HIV builds itself to the level of Acquired Immune Deficiency syndrome (AIDS). AIDS is the last stage of HIV (Elizabeth, 2012). Statistics done in 2010 estimated the number of people in the world currently living with HIV to be 34 million, 50% of whom are women. New infections per year totaled an alarming 11.4%. In 2010, the total number of deaths was calculated to be 1.8 million per year (UNAIDS, 2010). It goes without saying that HIV remains the plague of the 21st century. Literature review Before dealing with the HIV prevention program and the issues involved, it is necessary to deal with the research that has been done so far on the issue. To start with, it is important to consider the paper by Cornish & Ghosh (2004) that provides a detailed account of the Sonagachi Project, its peculiarities and positive implications. The paper also reveals certain trends that have appeared in the society. Exploring HIV prevention, they offer a specific case study, i.e., the study of HIV prevention in India. It is quite important that, unlike other studies of HIV which will be mentioned below, the Cornish and Ghosh paper deals with a specific case and has practical results to offer. After successful implementation of the Sonagachi Project which was aimed at preventing instances of HIV within the sphere of social interactions, the researchers found that there are certain patterns in