According to the Health Secretary, since 2018 Rio Preto has not recorded mother-to-child transmission during pregnancy
Rio Preto received the Luiza Matida Award from the state government in recognition of the actions of the Department of Health to eliminate the vertical transmission of the HIV virus, which is contamination transmitted from mother to child, during pregnancy or during childbirth.
Aldenis Borin, Secretary of Health, went to his office to bring the good news to Mayor Edinho Araújo (MDB) and said that “the city of Rio Preto, since 2018, has not recorded any cases of transmission HIV vertical. The result was only possible thanks to the good performance of the whole team that develops reference work for the Ministry of Health”
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Municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants compete for the prize. The judgment takes into account other impact indicators, such as the minimum coverage of four prenatal consultations for 95% of pregnant women and the provision of at least one HIV test. 20 municipalities in São Paulo were awarded.
Project coordinator Andrea Carneiro pointed out that in 2022 Rio Preto applied for certification of elimination of vertical transmission of HIV and reduction of cases of congenital syphilis for the years 2019 and 2020.
“The Ministry of Health has awarded certificates or stamps of good practices to 43 municipalities that have reached the elimination goal. Of the 28 municipalities covered by the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, the municipality of Rio Preto was one of them”.
The second prize received by Saúde was from Fiocruz. The city received the Silver Seal, demonstrating that it has been working effectively to reduce cases over the years.
Mayor Edinho Araújo congratulated the team and said that the awards further improve the services offered by the Unified Health System to users.
“We must also recognize the work of those who came before us. Today, we are continuing the actions that have been in place for many years”.
Prevention, diagnosis and treatment
The structure of the public health network is based on the Chronic Transmissible Diseases Complex. At the Screening and Counseling Center (CTA), the population can perform both the rapid test, the result of which is ready in 15 minutes, and the conventional test, which takes 15 days. If the result is positive, the health team will refer the patient to start treatment.
The therapy consists of antiretroviral drugs which prevent the virus from multiplying in the body and help prevent the weakening of the immune system.
“The regular use of antiretrovirals is essential to increase the time and quality of life of people living with HIV and to reduce the number of hospitalizations and infections due to opportunistic diseases”, says the head of the STD/AIDS program, Maria Amelia Zanon Rocha.
Luiza Matida
Luiza Matida, a late doctor, worked for 20 years at the STD/AIDS Program Reference and Training Center of the State Department of Health, coordinating the development and implementation of public policies and strategies for the elimination of vertical transmission of HIV and Syphilis from the national STD/AIDS control programme.
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