We sought to identify and understand the health care needs of young people living with HIV/AIDS, particularly in terms of their psychosocial well-being. We conducted a qualitative analysis of HIV-positive young people and their caregivers, focusing on the implications of an HIV diagnosis for health care needs. Stigma was a recurrent issue that arose in the interviews conducted with the respondents, and it was evident that youths had been denied many rights related to health. We concluded that young people living with HIV need comprehensive care based on a human rights approach. In this regard, we offer some practical recommendations for health programs.
The social and cultural setting which increases female vulnerability to HIV does not disappear when women living with HIV/AIDS discover that they are infected. Following diagnosis, new challenges arise in their emotional lives, an issue which has received little attention in the literature. This study interviewed 1068 women living with HIV/AIDS using a questionnaire consisting of both open and closed questions, aimed at describing aspects of their sexual and reproductive lives and how they perceive counseling at Reference Centers in two cities in the State of São Paulo, where they have access to free antiretroviral therapy. Of the women with stable sexual partners, 63% used condoms in all their sexual relations, or three times the national average; 43% of the partners were HIV-negative and 14% had unknown serological status; 73% of the women had children and 15% were considering becoming pregnant. Knowledge on mother-to-child transmission was less than expected, and the interviewees complained of limited space and receptiveness for discussing sexuality, especially with regard to their childbearing wishes. Counseling on sexuality should be a continuing process and requires interdisciplinary training for the professional team working in health care services, with an emphasis on sexual and reproductive rights.
OBJECTIVES. This paper measured the extent to which human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection has spread among the male working-class population of Santos, Brazil. METHODS. Questionnaires on risk behaviors and blood tests were administered to a random sample (n = 395) of male port workers employed by the Santos Port Authority. RESULTS. Although the rate of HIV infection among these men- the working-class male population of Santos-remains low (1.1%), self-reported behavioral risks for HIV infection are common. CONCLUSIONS. There is still time to prevent a widespread outbreak of HIV infection among the hetero-sexual population of Santos and of the transportation corridors emanating from that city.
Since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, Brazil has accounted for more than half of all reported cases in Latin America.'Ofthe many prevention programs launched in response, almost none have had their impacts on behavior measured. Among the few exceptions is a study byAntunes et al.2 that reported a decrease in unprotected sex with casual partners by Sao Paulo night school students after a randomized controlled trial of safe sex workshops. Parker and Terto3 reported a decrease in risk behavior by men who have sex with men in Rio de Janeiro following multiple interventions over several years.Santos is the largest port in Latin America, and it has one ofthe region's highest rates of AIDS.4 Local prevention efforts have mainly targeted sex workers and injecting drug users, even though transmission beyond these identified risk groups accounts for a growing proportion of cases. In this study, we implemented a worksite-based AIDS prevention program for male port workers-a population without any previous similar programand measured its impact on sexual risk behavior by using a longitudinal cohort design.
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