Quito, April 12, 2023
In order to strengthen health promotion and HIV prevention strategies, mainly expanding HIV screening coverage and early detection of HIV positive cases, the Ecuadorian Coalition of People Living with HIV (CEPVVS), the Corporation KIMIRINA and the Ministry of Public Health (MSP) signed an inter-institutional cooperation agreement.
The meeting was held in Quito and specified the joint actions of the Grant Agreement ECU-H-MOH-3141, between the MSP as the main recipient, and the Global Fund (GF), actions that aim to eliminate HIV as a health problem. public health, by decentralizing screening services to the first level of care, and improving information collection systems on HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs).
This national response includes health promotion, education, diagnosis, comprehensive management, and comprehensive care. Likewise, the offer of services in 16 provinces and 36 prioritized cantons. “This agreement will expand the coverage of HIV screening and will allow early capture of positive cases with a total fund budget of $6 million,” said José Ruales, Minister of Public Health.
In the same space, Fausto Vargas, general secretary of CEPVVS, sub-recipient of the agreement, recognized the MSP’s efforts to respond to HIV. “We ratify the commitment to work together,” he emphasized.
For her part, Amira Herdoiza, Executive Director of Kimirina, the Corporation that will act as subrecipient and administrative manager of the agreement, expressed her gratitude on behalf of the people who benefit from this type of public policy effort with the support of donors, such as the FM , said.
With the intervention of these organizations, the linkage of people with a positive diagnosis for HIV to the HIV Comprehensive Care Units will be strengthened for medical care by specialized personnel, delivery of antiretroviral drugs, monitoring and delivery of prevention methods (condoms and lubricants).
The agreement will be in force until 2025 and will benefit more than 140,000 people divided into three key groups: men who have sex with men, transgender people, and sex workers.
The national health authority also added that it is a joint and coordinated contribution to guarantee universal access to health.
