title: Network of communities in the fight against AIDS: local actions to address health inequities and promote health in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
abstract: When combined with major social inequities, the AIDS epidemic in Brazil becomes much more complex and requires effective and participatory community-based interventions. This article describes the experience of a civil society organisation, the Centre for Health Promotion (CEDAPS), in the slum communities (favelas) of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Using a community-based participatory approach, 55 community organisations were mobilised to develop local actions to address the increasing social vulnerability to HIV/AIDS of people living in squatter communities. This was done through on-going prevention initiatives based on the local culture and developed by a Network of Communities. The community movement has created a sense of "ownership" of social actions. The fight against AIDS has been a mobilising factor in engaging and organising communities and has contributed to raising awareness of health rights. Local actions included targeting the determinants of local vulnerability, as suggested by health promotion workers.
authors.affiliation: General Coordination Team, Centre for Health Promotion, CEDAPS, Centro Rio Janeiro, Brazil. katia@cedaps.org.br
authors.forename: Kátia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Edmundo
authors.forename: Wanda
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Guimarães
authors.forename: Maria do Socorro
authors.initials: Mdo S
authors.lastname: Vasconcelos
authors.forename: Ana Paula
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Baptista
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Becker
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy; D001938:Brazil; D019058:Community Networks; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D010067:Ownership; D011203:Poverty; D012924:Social Conditions; D014505:Urban Population; D035862:Vulnerable Populations