On August 3, a new polyclinic was inaugurated in Plácido Rosas, Uruguay, built through the Trilateral Program between Uruguay, Brazil, and Germany to support the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This was the eighth polyclinic inaugurated this year. The others opened in the months of April and July and are located in the departments of Rivera (Moirones), Artigas (Cuareim and Extensión Sur), Cerro Largo (Canas and Laguna Merin), and Rocha (Dieciocho de Julho and Lascano).

FIOTEC, in partnership with the FIOCRUZ Global Health Center (CRIS), supports the Trilateral Financial Cooperation between the German bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), Uruguay, and Brazil. FIOTEC Special Projects manager Mabel Melo attended the inauguration, together with representatives from the Brazilian Ministry of Health and the directors of the Uruguayan Administration of State Health Services (ASSE), among other authorities.

Trilateral cooperation

The cooperation aims to strengthen primary care and epidemiological surveillance, with an emphasis on HIV/AIDS, in areas along the border between Brazil and Uruguay. The program has been underway for nearly four years, and in addition to investment in equipment and infrastructure with this financial cooperation, the partnership provides for human resources training and capacity-building through technical cooperation.

The initiative, already in its final phase, prioritizes border towns with fewer than five thousand inhabitants each. Healthcare is provided to both Uruguayans and Brazilians, especially those with difficulties accessing healthcare services in their own countries due to large distances.

*With information from ASSE and the Republic of  Uruguay