HIV and AIDS

In the Dominican Republic and in Guyana, HIV prevalence rates among key populations are significantly higher than those in the countries’ general population. This disparity highlights the disproportionate vulnerability of populations such as female sex workers (FSW), men who have sex with men (MSM), transgender (TG), migrant and mobile populations to HIV. High HIV prevalence among these key affected populations also suggests the potential for continued spread of the virus. In both the Dominican Republic and Guyana, Advancing Partners & Communities’ (APC) efforts are geared towards contributing to a sustainable reduction in HIV transmission among key populations and an improved quality of life for people living with HIV. By strengthening the technical and organizational capacity of NGOs and community-based organizations through sub-grants, monitoring, and mentoring, APC enables grantees to establish the foundations for increasing the quality of HIV services and reduce stigma and discrimination. APC provides technical and organizational capacity building for USAID-supported NGOs implementing HIV prevention, counseling and testing (HCT) and care and support programming, as well as technical assistance (TA) to the Ministry of Health (MoH).

Photo credit: This child is HIV-positive and has come to the Muranga District Hospital in Kenya for treatment from a USAID-backed program run by the International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs, Columbia University School of Public Health. Photo credit: Casey Kelbaugh, International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs, Columbia University School of Public Health

Below you will find links to resources created by APC and other organizations.

APC Resources

Civil Society Organizations Forge a Place within the Dominican Republic’s HIV Response
June 2018 | Brief

In the Dominican Republic (DR), HIV-focused civil society organizations (CSOs) developed a platform to expand access to primary health care (PHC), including HIV services, for key and vulnerable populations.

Family Planning and HIV Integration: Important Contributions to the Global HIV Goals
January 2018 | Infographic

Integrating FP into HIV services can help ensure that people living with HIV, young women, key populations, and male partners can access critical information and services that empower them to fulfill their reproductive health needs and goals.

Family Planning/HIV Integration Quality Assurance Tool
January 2018 | Toolkit

This tool is designed to assess the extent to which facilities offering integrated family planning (FP) and HIV services are meeting basic minimum standards for the provision of quality FP services, identify any gaps in the provision of integrated services, and serve as a starting point for improving FP service delivery.

Flowchart: Integrating GBV Screening Within HIV Support Services in Guyana
November 2017 | Infographic

This flowchart breaks down the process for GBV screening within HIV support services in Guyana.

Gender-Based Violence & You: Know Your Rights
November 2017 | Brochure

This brochure provides information on how to get help for gender-based violence.

Gender-Based Violence Screening Tool
November 2017 | Training Guide

This screening tool was developed by APC Guyana to screen gender-based violence.

Overcoming Gender-Based Violence
November 2017 | Brochure

This brochure from Guyana provides information and important contacts for overcoming gender-based violence.

Guyana Gender-Based Violence Services Resource Directory
November 2017 | List

This directory from Guyana provides a rating system that is geared towards collecting information on how acceptable GBV services of each organization are for members of the key population.

Addressing Stigma and Gender-Based Violence to Improve HIV Service Delivery to Key Populations
November 2017 | Assessment

This rapid assessment was conducted to gather information on the programmatic and capacity needs of the NGOs supported through APC to implement services for key populations as well as the structural challenges faced by these NGOs.

Integrating Gender-Based Violence Screening Into HIV Services Provided by Non-governmental Organizations in Guyana
November 2017 | Toolkit

The following protocol was created to assist community-based nongovernmental organizations in Guyana with implementing gender-based violence screening. Social workers can use this tool to understand ways to detect GBV and to better prepare themselves for implementation of GBV screening.

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Below are select resources related to key issues within gender.

Gender-Based Violence

Gender-based violence is pervasive worldwide. Violence against women in particular has implications for community health programs, especially those that address family planning. Women and girls who experience sexual violence and coercion have an urgent need for family planning, including emergency contraception, to prevent unintended pregnancies. Women experiencing intimate partner violence may have lower demand for family planning, are more likely to use contraception in secret, and have higher rates of both unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions.

Gender-based violence also increases during pregnancy, which has serious implications for maternal health. Children of women who experience violence during pregnancy also suffer poor health outcomes.

Community health services present an opportunity to screen women and girls for gender-based violence and to refer them to appropriate services for support.

Flowchart: Integrating GBV Screening Within HIV Support Services in Guyana
November 2017 | Infographic

This flowchart breaks down the process for GBV screening within HIV support services in Guyana.

Gender-Based Violence & You: Know Your Rights
November 2017 | Brochure

This brochure provides information on how to get help for gender-based violence.

Gender-Based Violence Screening Tool
November 2017 | Training Guide

This screening tool was developed by APC Guyana to screen gender-based violence.

Guyana Gender-Based Violence Services Resource Directory
November 2017 | List

This directory from Guyana provides a rating system that is geared towards collecting information on how acceptable GBV services of each organization are for members of the key population.

Addressing Stigma and Gender-Based Violence to Improve HIV Service Delivery to Key Populations
November 2017 | Assessment

This rapid assessment was conducted to gather information on the programmatic and capacity needs of the NGOs supported through APC to implement services for key populations as well as the structural challenges faced by these NGOs.

Integrating Gender-Based Violence Screening Into HIV Services Provided by Non-governmental Organizations in Guyana
November 2017 | Toolkit

The following protocol was created to assist community-based nongovernmental organizations in Guyana with implementing gender-based violence screening. Social workers can use this tool to understand ways to detect GBV and to better prepare themselves for implementation of GBV screening.

HIV and AIDS

Civil Society Organizations Forge a Place within the Dominican Republic’s HIV Response
June 2018 | Brief

In the Dominican Republic (DR), HIV-focused civil society organizations (CSOs) developed a platform to expand access to primary health care (PHC), including HIV services, for key and vulnerable populations.

Family Planning and HIV Integration: Important Contributions to the Global HIV Goals
January 2018 | Infographic

Integrating FP into HIV services can help ensure that people living with HIV, young women, key populations, and male partners can access critical information and services that empower them to fulfill their reproductive health needs and goals.

Family Planning/HIV Integration Quality Assurance Tool
January 2018 | Toolkit

This tool is designed to assess the extent to which facilities offering integrated family planning (FP) and HIV services are meeting basic minimum standards for the provision of quality FP services, identify any gaps in the provision of integrated services, and serve as a starting point for improving FP service delivery.

Family Planning/HIV Integration Quality Assurance Tool [printable paper-based version] (PDF, 4 MB)

Family Planning/HIV Integration Quality Assurance Tool [interactive Excel-based version] (XLSX, 6.7 MB)

Pilotaje RIE República Dominicana
August 2016 | Publication

Lecciones aprendidas de una estrategia de colaboración entre la Dirección Regional de Salud V, organizaciones comunitarias, organizaciones nogubernamentales, y la sociedad civil.

DIAGNÓSTICO DE LAS NECESIDADES DE SALUD DE LAS POBLACIONES TRANS DE LA REPÚBLICA DOMINICANA
August 2016 | Study

En la República Dominicana, la epidemia del Virus de Inmunodeficiencia Humana (VIH) se caracteriza por estar concentrada en poblaciones como la de hombres que tienen sexo con hombres (HSH) y las mujeres trans. La prevalencia del VIH en HSH es de un 5.2 % , mientras que en algunos estudios en poblaciones trans, el VIH oscila entre 12 y 17 % .

Webinar: Strategies to Increase Male engagement in eMTCT of HIV and Syphilis
May 2016 | Webinar

Please join WHO and the Human Reproduction Programme on June 10, 2016 from 1530-1700 (Geneva Time) / 9:30-11:00 (Washington Time) for a webinar discussion on Strategies to Increase Male engagement in eMTCT of HIV and Syphilis.

This is the first instalment of a new RHR Webinar series focusing on male engagement in SRHR.

Understanding and Challenging HIV and Key Population Stigma and Discrimination: Caribbean Facilitator's Guide
February 2015 | Guide

Developed by the USAID- and PEPFAR-funded Health Policy Project, this guide is a training tool that provides a standard for stigma reduction. It is a resource for facilitators seeking to train participants to reduce HIV and key population stigma and discrimination, and for leaders of community dialogue and policy development in this area. The guide has been piloted in the Caribbean and other settings and can be readily adapted for other contexts.

Delivery of Integrated Family Planning and HIV Testing and Counseling Services by Community-Based Health Workers
October 2014 | Brief

To increase access to and use of HIV testing and counseling (HTC), FHI 360 and the Uganda Ministry of Health developed an innovative model to add HTC services to the family planning services provided by government-endorsed community health workers, known as village health teams (VHTs), in two districts in Uganda. 

Policy brief: Consolidated guidelines on HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care for key populations
July 2014 | Brief

This policy brief provides an overview of key findings, data and figures of the new consolidated guidelines on HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care for key populations. In addition, it offers an overview of the comprehensive package on interventions and a table summarizing WHO recommendations concerning key populations.

Abriendo Puertas: Feasibility and Initial Effects of a Multi-Level Intervention among Female Sex Workers Living with HIV in the Dominican Republic
February 2014 | Study

This study aims to assess the feasibility and initial effects of an integrated prevention and care model for female sex workers (FSW) living with HIV called Abriendo Puertas and to assess the feasibility of engaging the male regular partners of FSW living with HIV in prevention and care services.

AIDSTAR-One Project Highlight: Integrating and Mainstreaming HIV Services
December 2013 | Series

This project highlight combines key resources from AIDSTAR-One related to the Global Health Initiative and the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief priority of integrating and mainstreaming HIV services to improve access to prevention, testing, treatment, and care.

Exploring the Positive Health, Dignity and Prevention (PHDP) Needs of Female Sex Workers, Men Who Have Sex with Men and Transgender Women in the Dominican Republic and Swaziland
March 2013 | Report

This report describes the current social and structural context of FSW, MSM, and TW in the DR and Swaziland, particularly as it relates to stigma and discrimination among PLHIV. It also examines the specific PHDP needs of FSW, MSM and TW who are living with HIV, including challenges to accessing ongoing prevention, treatment, care and support service. Finally, it identifies ways in which PHDP interventions and services can be tailored to meet the needs of FSW, MSM, and TW, including specific program models and communication messages.

A Global HIV Stigma Reduction Framework Adapted and Implemented in Five Settings in India
January 2013 | Report

This report synthesizes the lessons learned from the process, including the feasibility and relevance of the framework for use by the NACP and other global stakeholders in informing stigma reduction interventions and measurement.

Agape Network

Agape Network began their work to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS in the community of Sophia in Georgetown, Guyana. Agape Network takes a family centered approach, offering care and support services to people living with HIV (PLHIV) and their families. Separate services are available for orphans and other vulnerable children (OVC) such as home-based care, after school program support, and counseling. Adults receive psychological and nutritional counseling services, social support, and referrals.

Amigos Siempre Amigos (ASA)

ASA is an informal group of friends, non-profit, funded by private companies, made up of people with or without disabilities, that promotes the social integration of young people and adults with physical or sensory disabilities, through socialization spaces that allow know and transmit experiences of life and disability, strengthen self-concept and self-esteem, generate solid links for an exchange of mutual support, to make their relationship with the environment more positive.

Artistes in Direct Support

Artistes in Direct Support is a non-profit, community-based organization focused on HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infection (STI) education. Volunteers and staff educate at-risk populations through the performing arts, media, and peer education. With the additional funding from USAID, Artistes in Direct Support has expanded their scope of work to include community mobilization, capacity building, voluntary counseling and testing (VCT), and outreach services for men having sex with men (MSM) and female sex workers (FSW).

Asociación Dominicana de Planificación Familiar (ADOPLAFAM)

The Asociación Dominicana de Planificación Familiar (ADOPLAFAM) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) focused on improving family planning and HIV/AIDS services in Provinces throughout the Dominican Republic. ADOPLAFAM aims to build HIV service delivery capacity in the Dominican Republic, ensuring universal access to care and support, prevention, and treatment services for key populations. They partner with other local organizations including Clínica de Familia la Romana, Grupo Este Amor, and Clínica Esperanza y Caridad.

Centro de Promoción y Solidaridad Humana (CEPROSH)

The Centro de Promoción y Solidaridad Humana (CEPROSH) is an HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention organization based in the northern region of the Dominican Republic that works to improve regional capacity to deliver quality HIV services to key populations.

Clínica de Familia

La Clinica de Familia, Inc. (LCDF) is a private, not-for-profit federally qualified health center (FQHC) that was established in Doña Ana County, New Mexico in 1978. LCDF provides quality health care for the entire family through a system of medical clinics, dental clinics, school based clinics, behavioral health services, mental health services, Early Head Start programs, Healthy Start programs and a Promotora program. LCDF health and social services programs are funded by grants, contracts, and fee-for-service.

Comforting Hearts

Comforting Hearts is an NGO focused on supporting families affected by HIV/AIDS through physical, social, spiritual, and psychological care and support services and education. The organization offers services for people living with HIV (PLHIV) and orphans and other vulnerable children (OVC). The OVC component provides nutrition, health, education, and shelter services in addition to the general care and support services. The program addresses socioeconomic empowerment and illiteracy among key populations as an avenue to increase clients’ personal and fiscal autonomy.

El Centro de Orientación e Investigación Integral (COIN)

The Centro de Orientación e Investigación Integral (COIN) is a private organization conceived as a result of the emergence of HIV/AIDS and human trafficking in the Dominican Republic. COIN implements HIV prevention programs and health care services for key populations throughout the region. COIN works with surrounding communities in the process of identifying their needs and problems to address key issues and reduce stigma.

Family Awareness Consciousness Togetherness (FACT)

Family Awareness Consciousness Togetherness (FACT), an NGO based in Corriverton, Guyana, focuses their efforts on the effects of HIV on family units. FACT seeks to bridge gaps in HIV service delivery by collaborating with other service providers, government agencies, faith-based organizations, NGOs, community leaders, and all stakeholders.

Grupo de Apoyo Este Amor

Este Amor was one of three Caribbean civil society organizations given CVC/COIN Mini-Grants of US$20,000 to pilot and help refine CVC/COIN’s Sex Positive approach to peer education. In October 2011, it chose 20 MSM from 15 to 19 years old to take four days of training guided by an early draft of the new CVC/COIN facilitator’s manual. At the end of this training, it chose eight to apply lessons as they conducted individual and group interventions in towns, villages and bateys (ethnic Haitian settlements) across the Province of San Pedro de Macorís, in the country’s Eastern Region.

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Advancing Partners & Communities to Participate in the 2018 International AIDS Conference
July 20, 2018 | Announcement

Representatives from the APC project to attend and present at the 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018) from July 23-27 in the Netherlands.

Strengthening the HIV Response in the Dominican Republic to Reach “Treatment for All” through Quality Improvement Collaboratives
February 20, 2018 | Announcement

JSI Research & Training Institute’s Advancing Partners & Communities (APC) project organized a Quality Improvement (QI) Collaboratives Launch Workshop in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (DR) from January 31 to February 2, 2018.

Addressing Stigma and Gender-Based Violence to Improve HIV Service Delivery to Key Populations: Findings From a Rapid Assessment

This rapid assessment was conducted in Guyana to gather information on the programmatic and capacity needs of the non-governmental organisations supported through APC to implement services for key populations as well as the structural challenges faced by these NGOs.

16 Days of Activism Against GBV 2017 in Guyana
November 30, 2017 | Blog

Given mounting global evidence highlighting the correlation between experiencing violence and increased vulnerability to HIV infection, Guyana must tackle the causes of gender-based violence head-on.

HIV Testing Services in Botswana
November 30, 2017 | General News

In Botswana, APC initiated data collection of HIV testing services using mobile phones to help identify risk factors associated with HIV, and to enable better screening.

Responding to the HIV Crisis in the Dominican Republic
November 22, 2017 | General News

In October 2017, Advancing Partners & Communities, in conjunction with PEPFAR and other partners convened a meeting with Ministry of Health officials, donors, and civil society members in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic to discuss sustainable responses to the national health system.

Advancing Partners & Communities Hosts Transgender Luncheon and Health Talk in Guyana
June 27, 2017 | General News

Advancing Partners & Communities hosted a luncheon and health discussion session for transgender pageant participants in Guyana. 

Artistes In Direct Support Stages Its First Educational Play Under The Advancing Partners & Communities Project
April 12, 2017 | General News

Artistes in Direct Support (Artistes), a non-profit supported by Advancing Partners & Communities (APC) presented an HIV-focused skit for a downtown crowd in Georgetown, Guyana.

APC Partners with the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company to Provide Mobile eHealth Support for PLHIV
January 19, 2017 | Announcement

APC is partnering with the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company in Guyana to reach people living with HIV through mobile technology.

Advancing Partners & Communities Signs an MOU for Key Population Services in Guyana
November 18, 2016 | Announcement

On November 17th, 2016, Advancing Partners & Communities (APC) signed a ground breaking Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with partners in Guyana to strengthen services for members of key populations.

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Working Together, Achieving Zero/Guyana
May 2014 | Video

This video highlights Advancing Partners & Communities (APC) and the Guyana Business Coalition against HIV and AIDS (GBCHA) campaign intended to help cultivate partnerships between local businesses and NGOs in Guyana to fight HIV. The campaign aims to encourage a broader range of partnerships by increasing the visibility of NGOs responding to HIV/AIDS while keeping the business sector informed of successes.

Gender-based Violence
November 2014 | Video

This media blast aims to increase the Business Sector’s awareness of gender-based violence (GBV) in Guyana and what businesses can do to end GBV. 

Regional Health Service personnel going over the satisfaction survey with a patient in the Hospital Doctor Antonio Musa, in San Pedro de Macoris.
Scaling Up the HIV Response in the Dominican Republic

Key populations in the Dominican Republic have HIV prevalence rates that are six to twelve times higher than the national average of 0.8 percent. Although there are multiple players committed to tackling the concentrated HIV epidemic, large gaps in coverage and access to HIV prevention, care and treatment services remain.

Doctor Martha Cruz, HIV physician at Hospital Lotes y Servicios, and her patient Richard.
Test and Start in the Dominican Republic Benefits Key Populations

Implementation of Test and START at the six PEPFAR/USAID-supported HIV clinics has reduced the patient treatment initiation window from 30 days in early 2017, to an average of seven days by September, extending the benefits to patients and the health system.

Inclusion, Not Exclusion

In the Dominican Republic (DR), transgender (trans) persons experience stigma and discrimination in many different ways and are denied the same opportunities as other Dominicans. In recent years, more efforts have been directed at improving the quality of life for the trans community. However, these initiatives focus mainly on HIV prevention and treatment, ignoring the multiple socioeconomic and health needs of these marginalized individuals.

Michelle talks with a client about ways to minimize ART side effects.
Compassion Makes all the Difference

Michelle, a client advocate associate with the APC project in Guyana, links people who are newly diagnosed with HIV to care and treatment, and helps people who have stopped coming for care to return.

Photo of Queenie
Saving Lives Through Peer Counselors

Queenie, or Q as she sometimes goes by, is an HIV positive, transgender (trans) person living in Guyana. When Q fell ill after defaulting on anti-retroviral therapy (ART), she was hesitant to resume her treatment. Given the stigma and discrimination Q had experienced in the hospital as a trans person, she was not looking forward to going back alone. So she reached out to Guyana Trans United (GTU), an organization that supports the trans community, for assistance.

APC’s Key Population Focal Point conducting a session on gender identify and sexual orientation.
Advancing Minds and Opening Hearts

As part of its efforts to overcome stigma and discrimination challenges, APC conducted quarterly sensitization sessions at Guyanese HIV care and treatment sites. In 2017, 66 people, including medical doctors, nurses, community health workers, auxiliary staff, and security personnel, participated.

Photo of Gillian
Providing Hope And Support For People Living With Disabilities And HIV

Gillian, a visually impaired 41-year-old, found out that she was HIV-positive when her family insisted that she go to the doctor because she was losing weight at a rapid rate. For 3 years she shut herself away from her family and friends, never disclosing her status to anyone. One day she decided to tell a classmate who happened to be a social worker at Lifeline Counselling Services (LCS) and enrolled Gillian in a People Living with HIV (PLHIV) and AIDS support group at LCS.

Photo of Tashana and her aunt.
Helping Orphans and Vulnerable Children Achieve Academic Success

Tashana Legall was born to a low income family in Guyana and lost both her parents to HIV/AIDS. In 2007, Tashana enrolled in a program for children orphaned or made vulnerable by HIV (HKID) at Comforting Hearts. The organization was a source of psychological, nutritional, spiritual and academic support to Tashana for several years. The continued nurturance and support from the staff at CH enabled Tashana to progress at school.

Rosanna Terrero
From a Beneficiary to a Provider, a Life Transformed

The Dominican Network for People Living with HIV (REDOVIH+) helped Rosanna Terrero give back to others.

Photo of Kayla
Ensuring 100% Enrollment In Care of People Newly Diagnosed with HIV

Kayla and Carlos are beneficiaries of the HIV Comprehensive Care Clinic at the Centro de Promoción y Solidaridad Humana, Inc. (CEPROSH) in the Puerto Plata province of the Dominican Republic.

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