With the aim of reducing the incidence of HIV and continuing to ensure access to timely and quality comprehensive health services, the inauguration of the Comprehensive STI Care Module was held this April 22 at the CMI El Progreso in Carabayllo, Lima.
According to figures from the Ministry of Health (MINSA), 110 thousand people live with HIV in Peru, with Metropolitan Lima and Callao being a key region as it concentrates 58% of HIV cases nationwide. In this plane, Carabayllo is one of the districts with the highest number of accumulated HIV cases in Lima, with 436 cases between 2019 and 2023, according to the National Center for Epidemiology, Prevention and Disease Control of the Minsa.
In that sense, this new care module will benefit the population of Carabayllo and all of North Lima by offering HIV counseling and discarding services, antiretroviral therapy (ART), STI treatment, PrEP, condom delivery, and more.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by Jorge Ramirez Castillo, general director of DIRIS Lima Norte; Pablo Mendoza, mayor of the district of Carabayllo; Dr. Carlos Benites, director of DPVIH Minsa; and Gloria Ipanaque, vice president of Coordinadora Nacional Multisectorial en Salud (CONAMUSA).
From Socios En Salud, Dr. Marco Tovar, director of health services, and Dr. Alberto Mendoza, general coordinator of the Project for the Health Partners Project, participated. Alberto Mendoza, general coordinator of the Country Project TB HIV 2022-2025.
ART Decentralization and Integration
Aligned to improve the continuum of care for people living with HIV (PLHIV) and contribute significantly to the goal of decentralization, a total of 24 Integrated STI Care Modules (ART Centers) nationwide have been completed to date, within the framework of the Country TB HIV Project; In addition, five of them are in the process of being refurbished.
Thanks to this coordinated work with Minsa and CONAMUSA, only in the last year more than 900 PLWHA received ART, while 445 officially started this treatment, which includes free delivery of medicines, medical check-ups and counseling. As for STIs, more than 2,000 people accessed free treatment during 2023.
On the eve of commemorating, next May, 20 years since the Peruvian State incorporated free antiretroviral treatment, the inauguration of the El Progreso ART Center marks a milestone in the strengthening of the fixed offer against HIV, especially in an emblematic district for Socios En Salud, where our history of making health a right for all began.
