Comprehensive approach to HIV/AIDS testing and linkage to treatment among men who have sex with men in Curitiba, Brazil.

Introduction: The Curitiba (Brazil)-based Project, A Hora é Agora (AHA), evaluated a comprehensive HIV control strategy among men who have sex with men (MSM) aimed at expanding access to HIV rapid testing and linking HIV-positive MSM to health services and treatment. AHA's approach included rapid HIV Testing Services (HTC) in one mobile testing unit (MTU); a local, gay-led, non-governmental organization (NGO); an existing government-run health facility (COA); and Internet-based HIV self-testing. The objectives of the paper were to compare a) number of MSM tested in each strategy, its positivity and linkage; b) social, demographic and behavioral characteristics of MSM accessing the different HTC and linkage services; and c) the costs of the individual strategies to diagnose and link MSM to services.

High HIV infection prevalence in a group of men who have sex with men.

Brazil is characterized by a concentrated AIDS epidemic, it has a prevalence of less than 1% in the general population. However, there are higher rates in specific populations, especially in men who have sex with men. The study's aim was to analyze the association between sociodemographic characteristics, sexual practices, sexual behaviors and the HIV infection in a group of men who have sex with men.

Determinants of infant mortality in the Jequitinhonha Valley and in the North and Northeast regions of Brazil.

Objective: This study aims to identify the social and demographic determinants, in addition to the determinants of reproductive health and use of health services, associated with infant mortality in small and medium-sized cities of the North, Northeast and Southeast regions of Brazil.

Methods: This is a case-control study with 803 cases of death of children under one year and 1,969 live births (controls), whose mothers lived in the selected cities in 2008. The lists of the names of cases and controls were extracted from the Sistema de Informação sobre Mortalidade (SIM - Mortality Information System) and the Sistema de Informação sobre Nascidos Vivos (SINASC - Live Birth Information System) and supplemented by data obtained by the research of "active search of death and birth".

Aids mortality trends according to sociodemographic characteristics in Rio Grande do Sul State and Porto Alegre City, Brazil: 2000-2011.

Objective: to analyze AIDS mortality trends in Rio Grande do Sul State (RS) and Porto Alegre City (POA) according to sociodemographic characteristics in the period 2000-2011.

Methods: this was an ecological time series study of AIDS mortality rates; Prais-Winsten regression model was used.

Results: the standardized mortality AIDS rate showed a stationary trend in RS (1.

Evaluability of the Program to Value Primary Healthcare Professionals (PROVAB): management challenges.

The objective of this article is to present the results of a study on the evaluability of the Program to Value Primary Healthcare Professionals (PROVAB in the Portuguese) that was created by the Brazilian Ministry of Health in 2011. The Program is part of the Manage Healthcare Work and Educationstrategy which seeks to invest in a number of measures aimed at improving and valuing the work carried out by primary healthcare teams. The research, which used qualitative methods, was carried out between February and November 2013 and involved five stages: (a) analysis of documents; (b) identification of potential users; (c) strategic analysis; (d) modelling of the intervention; (e) sharing of lessons learned.