On December 5th and 6th, the meeting of the Expanded Management Committee of the A Hora é Agora (AHA) program took place in Curitiba/PR, a project financed by the CDC and supported by Fiotec. During the event, the results of the strategies supported by AHA in the cities of Curitiba, Campo Grande/MS, Florianópolis/SC, Fortaleza/CE and Porto Alegre/RS were presented and discussed. During the opening table, the project's principal investigator, Marly Cruz, announced the expansion of the program to a new clinic in another Brazilian state. According to her, the exact location will be revealed soon by the coordination of the project to society and all partners.
Over the course of the two-day event, the challenges related to the response to tuberculosis (TB) and HIV were addressed, with a focus on achieving the goals set by the funders. The importance of including young people in HIV/AIDS prevention, diagnosis and treatment actions was also discussed. In addition, the communication strategies developed by AHA were shared, highlighting the relevance of mental health for infected people, as well as the reduction of harm for groups in a situation of greater vulnerability to HIV/AIDS.
On the second and last day of the event, after the lectures and rounds of questions and answers, all participants participated in a guided technical visit to the Guidance and Counseling Center (COA), a clinic specializing in the treatment of sexually transmitted infections, where the program A Hora é Agora is in operation in the capital of Paraná. During the visit, it was possible to closely observe the work developed by the project, including the care provided by nurses and social agents to the target audience of the cooperation agreement between the CDC and Fiotec.
According to Livia Mureb, Fiotec's International Projects analyst, the meeting contributed to a better understanding of the importance of the institution in the execution of the project. The role played by the foundation in various stages within the project was discussed, from the acquisition of kits sent to patients to the preparation of the contract with the Post Office, which guarantees the delivery of medicines in regions that are often neglected within the municipalities. In addition, Fiotec is responsible for hiring social agents, doctors and nurses, essential professionals to improve the health conditions of the people served by the project.
The rains that affected Campo Grande and Porto Alegre also generated debate during the event, with emphasis on Fiotec's contribution to the restructuring of the Campo Grande clinic and agile hiring of staff in Porto Alegre. The actions were crucial to ensure the continuity of services and deliveries, especially when the Post Office was unable to access several affected areas in the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, for example.
The Expanded Management Committee of the A Hora é Agora Program is composed of the Municipal and State Health Departments of each municipality where the project operates, NGOs, the Department of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Viral Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections (Dathi/MS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Ensp/Fiocruz and Fiotec.
