Municipality of Itacoatiara

The municipality of Itacoatiara is located 177 km east of the city of Manaus (204 km by river) and has a estimated general population of 81,674 people (IBGE 2006). The municipal STI/HIV/AIDS programme is based in local health post called Manoel Mendes da Silva or Posto da Colônia, where the Voluntary Testing and Counselling Center is located.

The municipal programme provide pre and post-counselling services to clients, rapid HIV testing services, information about STI/HIV/AIDS, and counselling on safer sexual practices. All health posts in the municipality, including the VTC provide syphilis testing daily. Given the great distances between municipalities, communities and the State capital, various municipalities within Amazonas use rapid testing for HIV. Results of the test are available within 20 minutes, allowing clients to be tested and receive their results in the same afternoon. The municipal programme has organised STI/HIV/AIDS awareness activities during various festivals, including the Fecani Festival (Itacoatiara’s Music Festival), International Older People Day, International Women’s Day, World AIDS Day, the Sexual Diversity Parade, the Elimination of Syphilis Campaign, the Pineapple Festival, and Carnaval. During these campaigns, the municipal programme focuses on prevention activities, including mass distribution of condoms and informative materials and city-wide campaigning through media advertisements and workshops in schools and local businesses. The municipal epidemiological surveillance team collects data on the cases of STI and AIDS and enters the data into the national epidemiological surveillance system called SINAN.

The municipal programme consists of a staff of 4 part-time people include a nurse, a bio-chemist, a psychologist, and 1 lab technician. There is a medical doctor associated with the programme.

The municipal STI/HIV/AIDS programme is overseen by the municipal secretary of health, Laene Conceição Gadelha Dias and coordinated by a municipal STI/HIV/AIDS coordinator, Eliandra Castro de Oliveira.

Participants in the 2007 STI/HIV/AIDS prevention campaign during Carneval in the municipality of Itacoatiara (Photo provided by Mirriah Vitale IS Brazil)