28 January, 2005
In an effort to combat the 5% HIV rate and other sexually-transmitted infections in the bateyes, the Canadian Project Fund for Local Initiatives and the USAID/CONECTA funded separately a one-to-two-year project for BRA Dominicana, as part of a consortium, to address Mother-to-child vertical transmission ? and HIV/AIDS education and prevention in 30 batey communities in the province of Monte Plata. ?This project is critical and timely to help save lives in these impoverished communities,? said Maria Virtudes Berroa, Executive Director of BRA Dominicana.
The project focuses on improved access to information and prevention services in regards to HIV/AIDS transmission, as well as primary health care to a population between 0 to 44 years of age, including those already living with the virus. ?These actions will help reduce the risks of HIV/AIDS transmission and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) during pregnancy among 16 to 44 year-old female residents ? and treat opportunistic diseases,? added Berroa.
The project bases its core preventive actions by selecting 35 health promoters and 350 women of childbearing age and with the capacity to conceive. The promoters are trained and tasked to educate these women and others about the risks of infections and contraction ? and preventive measures. They are also trained to handle basic information about STDs and HIV/AIDS, and to serve as support personnel for implementation and execution of the project during identification, contact and follow-up phases. Finally, the promoters are responsible to select a group of 24 adolescents and young adults (15 to 24 years of age) to serve as multipliers of knowledge in their own communities. ?A total of 720 adolescents and young adults, called the Volunteer Youth Network, are expected to be actively engaged in the campaign,? concluded Berroa.
We need your support to keep this project going. By making a tax-deductible donation of $100 or more, you will help BRA secure enough medicines to provide caring treatment to HIV-infected persons in the bateyes.
You can mail a check payable to Batey Relief Alliance at P.O. Box 300565, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11230 or Give on line
For more information, please contact Ulrick Gaillard at (917) 627-5026 or bra@bkreative.net. You may also contact our office in the Dominican Republic at (809) 540-4947 and speak in Spanish to Maria Virtudes Berroa, Executive Director of BRA Dominicana.
