The current epidemiological situation in our country and on the African continent requires action to prevent infectious diseases. Within the framework of the ETMIPLUS strategy development and in connection with the Eliminate Infectious Diseases in the United States initiative, the country office proposed a social intervention that will help eliminate HIV, syphilis, hepatitis and Chagas disease.
In the course of the work that the Municipal Hospital of Coyama Tolima and the Pan American Health Organization have adopted through a written agreement to carry out pilot testing within the ETMI PLUS strategy, an intervention has been proposed with the community within the framework of: Implementing the knowledge we promote Dialogue – Intercultural dialogue approach as a way of working with communities.
In October 2022, community work is planned to prevent diseases with a social approach and 4 intellectual dialogue spaces were held within the framework of events arranged by the city hospital, in which the social part of the problem was addressed. : People’s private lives related to the prevention of syphilis, HIV and hepatitis, and agricultural practices related to Chagas disease.
The social approach taken successfully identified people’s knowledge of the disease, forms of prevention and the social behaviors that underlie the epidemic: Social workers at the municipal hospital confirmed the strong tendency for men and women to swap partners. Men and women who had or had sex with someone other than a “publicly recognized” stable partner and confirmed not using condoms during sex with casual contacts.
The problem of public distribution of condoms was solved in a city where all residents knew each other and anonymity was unlikely due to its social significance. A group of people living their lives secretly has been identified.
Likewise, a request has been made to the territory’s Aboriginal authorities to allow access by health teams to carry out appropriate inspections and it is recommended that Arrange access to the territory in advance with the reserve governor and community action committee chair.
Finally, the need for educational initiatives was raised, including the ability of men and women to recognize the skin lesions typical of these diseases on their own bodies and to be able to recognize skin lesions on the bodies of their partners.
*Photo taken from the 2022 report of the San Roque Level 1 ESE Hospital in Coyama Tolima.