The project TreinAgente - capacitating communitary health agent in Rio Grande do Sul -Brazil.
Int Conf AIDS 2002 Jul 7-12; 14:(abstract no. F11737)
Brasil CS, Mayer RM, Strossi DC, Guerreiro R Movimento Metropolitano de Reducao de Danos, Porto Alegre, Brazil
From all countries Brazil is third in aids cases. 70% of the cases in the state of Rio Grande do Sul concentrate on the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre city, which is the third one in Brazil in number of cases. The sharing of syringes are still letting the population of drug injectable users and their social net vulnerable. Therefore it is extremely important to work against the epidemy expansion through preventive actions targeting this population. In the last few years the harm reduction programs have demonstrated an efficient approach for IDU. The communitary health agent (ACS) turns into a great partner of the outreach worker as both of them work with health conditions in their own community. The project TrenAgente (capacitating people) aims to promote the sensitivity in 150 ACS on aids prevention among IDU and capacitate 50 of them to perform harm reduction effectively. We have realized that the efficiency of harm reduction is on the fact that this work is performed between pairs, the DU with DU and ACS with their own community. The experience has showed that these actions generate an attachment respect in recognition of the community when ACS performs this work in the local community. For this reason it is extremely necessary that this agents may be moved and capable of working with harm reduction as a way to reach aids prevention actions for the vulnerable population of this communities the agents bellow to. As the ACS is all ready part of the local health system. The sustainability of the harm reduction actions is to qualify the agents. So, the ACS as a member of the community becomes the main figure being the agent of including back the DU in his community.
Keywords: AEGIS, Health, Residence Characteristics, Brazil, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Population, Population Density, Population Dynamics
