Family Care International >> Programs & Issues >> HIV/AIDS

Every day, over 6800 people become infected with HIV and over 5700 persons die from AIDS, mostly because of inadequate access to HIV prevention and treatment services. Women, who are disproportionately affected by AIDS, almost half of infections worldwide and 61% in Sub- Saharan Africa. Women are also affected as partners, mothers, as care-givers, health care workers.

To prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, FCI:

Advocates for policies and programs that offer all people, including adolescents, information and services to prevent and treat HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
Provides technical assistance to local organizations that offer sexual and reproductive health services and education to young people and women.
Develops educational and training materials that address HIV/AIDS and help people gain the skills and the information they need to protect themselves.

Working for Stronger Linkages
Sexual & Reproductive Health and HIV/AIDS

Since 1999, FCI has been working in our focus countries in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa to address HIV/AIDS.

Youth in Mali and Niger

In Mali we are implementing innovative programs that link SRH and HIV/AIDS. Specifically, FCI designed an HIV prevention project for hard-to-reach youth who are working informal jobs but are not in school and another program for youth in schools and literacy centers.

FCI Niger, in partnership with local partners and youth groups, produced sexuality education materials that provide straightforward information to young people about their bodies, their options, and their futures and help them develop the skills they need to make health choices.

Indigenous People and Adolescents in Latin America

Indigenous men and women who live in the Amazonian District of Pando, in the Bolivian lowlands between Brazil and Peru, are neglected by Bolivia's national HIV prevention efforts. Basic information on HIV and STD prevention is almost impossible in these isolated rural communities.

To address this situation, FCI Bolivia, the local indigenous organization (CIPOA) and the district level health authorities (SEDES Pando) have worked together since 2006 in a large project which includes assessment of knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) related to HIV and AIDS in five indigenous communities. An executive summary, demonstrates the importance of expanding prevention efforts to underserved areas. Based on these findings, the project team designed sensitization and training strategies to increase the knowledge of indigenous health promoters on HIV and AIDS prevention and care.

FCI also promoted a program among youth in the Dominican Republic and Panama to strengthen planning and monitoring capacity of country-level HIV/AIDS prevention organizations.

Article calls for comprehensive approach that places women’s health needs at the
centre of AIDS responses

Half of the 33.2 million people living with HIV today are women. Yet, responses to the epidemic are not adequately meeting the needs of women. FCI’s article, "From PMTCT (Preventing Mother to Child Transmission) to a More Comprehensive AIDS Response for Women: A Much-Needed Shift", published in April 2008 by the journal Developing World Bioethics, explores the importance of a broader approach to prevention and treatment of HIV/ AIDS that considers women’s health needs, pregnant and non-pregnant. Click here to read the article.

Publications present cultural factors to prevent HIV among indigenous women in Ecuador

In June, FCI Ecuador, Fundació Interarts and the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation for Development (AECID), released 2 new publications that highlight the need for HIV prevention among indigenous women in Ecuador. "Horizontes interculturales en salud y VIH" (Intercultural Horizons in Health and HIV) analyzes public policies related to HIV and indigenous populations in Ecuador from an intercultural perspective.

"En la intimidad del buen vivir" (In the intimacy of healthful living) presents qualitative evidence that helps to strengthen public policies for HIV prevention among indigenous populations in Ecuador.

Visit our publications section to view our complete catalogue of training and informational materials.

If all the available condoms in Africa were evenly distributed, every man would receive only 3 or 4 per year.
Each day, over 14,000 men, women, and children are infected with HIV.
Every 7 seconds, another person contracts HIV.
Every 11 seconds another person dies from HIV.
More than half of those newly infected with HIV are between the ages of 15 and 24. Women in this age range are three-times more likely to be infected with HIV than men.
HIV infection rates are twice as high among young people who do not finish primary school. If every girl and boy received a complete primary education, at least seven million new cases of HIV could be prevented in a decade.