AIDSTECH

The AIDS Technical Support (AIDSTECH) project was established in 1987 when USAID and FHI entered one of the largest single cooperative agreements between the U.S. government and a private organization to combat HIV/AIDS in the developing world.

From September 1987 to September 1992, AIDSTECH assisted developing countries to build their capacity to design, implement, evaluate, and sustain programs to prevent the sexual and parenteral (blood) transmission of HIV.

Where AIDSTECH operated

AIDSTECH activities focused on addressing the major modes of HIV transmission in key target countries:

Africa (Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Zaire, and Zimbabwe)

Asia (Philippines and Thailand)

Latin America and the Caribbean region (Brazil, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico, and the Eastern Caribbean)

AIDSTECH's strategy

AIDSTECH's first priority was to slow and prevent the sexual transmission of HIV.  This meant the project mainly helped to:

• Identify high risk populations
  
• Develop educational programs targeting those populations
  
• Promote condom use
  
• Ensure access to condoms
  
• Control STDs

AIDSTECH's second priority was to prevent HIV transmission through transfused blood by assisting to:

• Strengthen blood screening programs
  
• Improve transfusion practices
  
• Encourage free and voluntary blood donations by people at low risk of HIV infection

AIDSTECH's accomplishments

Among its many accomplishments, AIDSTECH:

• Assisted in designing, implementing, and supporting 181 projects in 35 countries.
  
  
• Supported 39 targeted intervention programs in 25 countries, reaching those at highest risk of HIV infection.
  
  
• Distributed 48 million condoms.
  
  
• Made 3.5 million face-to-face educational contacts.
  
  
• Distributed five million pieces of information, education and communication materials.
  
  
• Trained 5,200 peer educators.
  
  
• Increased condom use by commercial sex workers.
  
  
• Validated some of the best available ways to slow the sexual spread of HIV, including the peer education model, workplace and social center model, and the clinic-based model.
  
  
• Developed prototype educational materials for targeted populations.
  
  
• Upgraded STD diagnosis and treatment at 448 clinics in 14 countries, training 791 health care professionals and clinic outreach staff.
  
  
• Supported state-of-the-art research on the dynamics of behavior change.
  
  
• Educated policymakers.
  
  
• Evaluated "rapid" HIV tests.