Addressing HIV/AIDS through Partnership

This initiative draws on the power of partnership to make change. The official signing of the Declaration happened at the opening ceremony of the National Medical Association's 50th Anniversary Congress, which took place November 28 to December 1 2007 (World AIDS Day). The United States (US) Ambassador in Guatemala joined with other high-level officials in the Guatemala medical community to announce and explain the partnership between USAID's PSP-One project and the Guatemala Medical Association to mobilise and train private providers to deliver quality HIV/AIDS counselling and testing. In addition to the official signing of the declaration in support of private providers' participation in HIV/AIDS prevention, all Congress attendants were encouraged to sign an online version.

As part of the specialised courses offered at that conference, the Medical Association and PSP-One Guatemala organised training courses, such as one designed for private physicians on HIV/AIDS counselling and testing. As part of this particular event, 55 private physicians attended a 5-hour training course taught by several of Guatemala's professionals from the country's HIV/AIDS integrated treatment centres. The curriculum was designed specially to address the challenges private providers encounter in their daily private practice. Topics focused on the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS in Guatemala, clinical suspicion and diagnostic approaches, an introduction to HIV/AIDS tests and national diagnostic algorithms, and an overview of the HIV/AIDS law and national counselling guidelines. An automated person-response system was designed to facilitate the monitoring of the acquired knowledge on these key topics throughout the training activity.

HIV/AIDS.

Abt Associates reports that HIV prevalence in Guatemala is estimated at just under 1%, with MARPs such as commercial sex workers (CSW) and men who have sex with men (MSM) making up 36% of the total number of people living with HIV and AIDS. Organisers note that the private sector plays an important role in this fight, with many clients getting tested for HIV in private clinics and private labs; however, "there is evidence of serious weaknesses in this sector, such as the lack of counseling for patients getting tested and little or no knowledge by private providers about national laws and protocols regarding HIV/AIDS."