AHF Brasil has been working in Brazil since 2015 on actions to combat HIV / AIDS and Sexually Transmissible Infections (STIs), promoting the prevention of new infections and facilitating access to a treatment with quality, no cost and in a timely manner to those in need.
AHF Brasil has also been working to spread actions of prevention, testing and care. We have adopted different strategies for this. In a campaign, during the carnival of 2018, we distributed 1 million condoms in the parades in the streets of São Paulo. In another campaign, related to the 2018 World Cup, in places where people meet to watch the matches in São Paulo, we distributed 50,000 condoms related to the 32 selections that took part in the tournament. We also carry out large campaigns for testing, including in the São Paulo LGBTI + Pride Parade, which brings together 3 million people to the streets of the city. AHF Brazil participate with an electric trio which carries messages about the relevance of HIV / AIDS prevention to the public participating.
In order to increase access to the diagnosis of HIV / AIDS, AHF Brasil maintains partnerships with some NGOs and local governments for community-based testing outside health services, with a special focus on populations most vulnerable to HIV / AIDS. Currently, some of our partners are Grupo Pela Vidda (Rio de Janeiro – RJ), Rede Amizade (Manaus – AM), AGLTPIN (Parintins – AM), AGLTTF (Tabatinga and Benjamin Constant – AM), BARONG (São Paulo – SP), besides the Health Department of the State of Pernambuco and São Paulo. The actions carried out together with these institutions allowed the realization of approximately 6,000 tests per month, with a positivity rate of 3%. To all these diagnosed people are offered the link to the specialized services for the proper treatment, and there is permanent monitoring of the team until the bonding process is completed.
Regarding actions to care for people living with HIV / AIDS, AHF Brasil maintains projects in partnership with local government institutions, to support the linking of new patients and improve retention / adherence to HIV treatment in the cities of Manaus (decentralization of patients from the Tropical Medicine Foundation – FMT), São Paulo and Recife. These projects aim to bring a differentiated look to the health services, trying to purpose adjustments in the ways of organizing patient care with a differentiated approach for the reception of newly diagnosed patients and the return of patients who have abandoned HIV treatment. For this reason, AHF Brasil constantly monitors and evaluates actions, promoting and seeking to improve the quality of care, always in accordance with national guidelines. Currently, AHF Brasil supports 12 health units specialized in the treatment of HIV / AIDS in the country (6 in Manaus, 5 in São Paulo and 1 in Recife), which more than 30 thousand patients are under treatment.
On May 14, 2018, AHF Brasil inaugurated its first Wellness Center – Man’s Clinic in the city of Recife. In this clinic, services such as the distribution of condoms and lubricating gel, rapid testing for HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B and C, treatment of STIs are offered free of charge, without the need for scheduling. The clinic attends at a special time (from 1:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., from Monday to Friday) and in its first month of operation has attended more than 1000 users in search of rapid testing and treatment for STI. Among these more than 1000 tests performed, we have founded a positivity of 5% for HIV and 14% for syphilis.