A POWERFUL ALLY Silvana Gomes dos Santos educates vulnerable teens about HIV prevention, pregnancy and contraceptive use through the Associação Londrinense Interdisciplinar de AIDS (ALIA).
The International AIDS Conference 2012 will be held July 22-27 in Washington, DC.
According to UNAIDS, one-third of all new HIV infections involve people ages 15 to 24.
In Londrina, Brazil, in the southern state of Paraná, an estimated 35 percent of the adolescents are impoverished, and many experience violence. A recent study also found that 30 percent report using drugs and 60 percent do not use contraceptives. Culture and tradition silence parents, preventing them from addressing these risks with their teens, and teachers are often ill-equipped for the necessary dialogue. As result, these young people are at risk for HIV infection.
The adolescents of Londrina, however, have an unexpected and powerful ally in Silvana Gomes dos Santos. After losing her husband and her youngest son to HIV, Silvana learned that she too harbored the infection. Doctors told the shy housekeeper that she would not survive longer than one year.
But Silvana had different plans.
Learning to React
“Since my housekeeper salary was not enough, I had to sell 500 pizzas to buy my first medicines,” Silvana remembers.
Luckily, she also received essential assistance from the Associação Londrinense Interdisciplinar de AIDS (ALIA). Founded in 1989 in Londrina, ALIA is dedicated to preventing HIV infection and defending the civil rights of people living with HIV and AIDS through scientific and social programs.
Soon, Silvana was organizing political marches and pushing the Brazilian government toward universal access to free antiretroviral treatment, a commitment the country made to its citizens in 1996.
She also established a program through ALIA called Saber para Reagir, or “Learn to React.” The project helps to educate Londrina’s vulnerable teens through school-based workshops focused on HIV, other sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy and contraceptive use. In addition, monthly meetings with community families counter the silence and misinformation at home.
A Phoenix for the Fight
Since the partnership with Johnson & Johnson began in 2005, ALIA’s Saber para Reagir program has reached more than 6,000 teens at high risk for HIV infection. Each year, an average of 800 teens enroll in the educational programs sponsored by ALIA.
"I was like an angel with one wing and J&J gave me my second wing," Silvania says. “My children have been raised and educated, I have two grandchildren and a house of my own. I wake up early, drink my coffee and go out to fight.”
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