International mission marks the beginning of TREATNET II in the state of Amazonas

August 23, 2011 - An international high-level mission visits, until the 25, the state of Amazonas to evaluate results and to continue the activities of the UN Comprehensive Plan to Support the Response to AIDS in the Amazon, known as "Amazonaids ".

Coordinated by the State Secretariat of Planning of the Amazon (SEPLAN), the mission includes representatives and experts from the United Nations, including the coordinator of the UN System in Brazil, UNODC, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNFPA, UNESCO, UNICEF, ILO and UNHCR. The mission also includes the participation of the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Brazil, Kees Rade, officials of the federal government, of the state of Amazonas and from municipalities and seeks to promote efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

On Monday, the visit of the mission marked the beginning of the fourth national training phase of the Global Program TREATNET, a UNODC initiative, in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), which seeks to strengthen the responses and capabilities for the treatment of problematic users of psychoactive substances. ""We have seen that the best results in the attention to the problematic use of drugs are achieved when we have a multidisciplinary approach, including pharmacological and psychosocial diversified interventions, guided to attend diverse populations, respecting the socio-cultural diversity of each one of them. UNODC has been dialoguing with governments and partners from different countries to involve all sectors of society in the formulation of coordinated policies to offer treatment services based in scientific evidences capable to respond in an efficient way. These responses must always attend the needs of society under a perspective of respect to Human Rights", said Bo Mathiasen, regional representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for Brazil and Southern Cone. 
In the evening, the mission met with the governor of the state of Amazonas, Osmar Aziz, and with officials from the state government to present and discuss activities of the United Nations Plan to Support the National Response to AIDS.
On Tuesday (22), the destination of the mission is Tabatinga to hold meetings with local authorities. The mission will also launch the radio version of the Women's Rights Campaign, inspired in demands made by women of Alto Solimões during a UN mission in 2009. The mission will also re-launch the videos of the campaign, which seek to raise awareness, reduce rates of violence against women and promote women's health and gender equity.

By the end of the week, the mission will also visit indigenous communities that have implemented actions under the AMAZONAIDS, in the Special Sanitary Indigenous District (DSEI) in Alto Solimões, and in the Indigenous Health House (CASAI) of Atalaia do Norte and Umariaçu, in Tabatinga.

A renewal of commitments and the strengthening of the partnership in support of the AIDS response, in the countering of violence against women and in the treatment of drug addiction in the State of Amazon are expected.

TREATNET

The international cooperation program has a local implementation and works in the building of a Network of Persons. The idea is to promote training in cascade, which means, to train professionals to train other professionals, spreading through the entire network of care and treatment to people with problems related to the use of alcohol and other drugs.

Among its purposes are to improve the capacity of local health systems to effectively manage the treatment of the effects caused by drug abuse; to increase the coverage of interventions for the treatment of addiction to drugs and HIV preventive interventions. The project also seeks to increase the supply of services, incorporating treatment to the Unified Health System in Brazil (SUS); to create mechanisms for continuous training; implement a tailored training package according to the necessities of the country; and to expand treatment services for drug users.

The project´s training material was developed between 2005 and 2007, with the participation of 20 international treatment centers, regional coordinators of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the University of California (UCLA). The material, which uses scientifically proven and internationally validated technology, is organized in three volumes and is taught through workshops.

This activity takes place under the United Nations Integrated Plan for the Amazon State, AMAZONAIDS.

AMAZONAIDS

In force since 2008, AMAZONAIDS is an initiative of UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS), in collaboration with United Nations agencies (UNHCR, PAHO/WHO, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNIFEM, UNODC), the Embassy of the Netherlands, the state NGO/AIDS Forum, federal and state governments and the municipalities of Atalaia do Norte, Tabatinga and Benjamin Constant.

The AMAZONAIDS seeks to strengthen local capacities to improve the response to AIDS epidemic, and to harmonize the activities of the United Nations agencies and other partners to optimize the use of technical and financial resources, aligning activities with local governments' priorities. The Plan is also an instrument to mobilize additional resources to support local responses to AIDS in the states.

UNODC is one of the cosponsors of UNAIDS and Brazil is a member of the Theme Group on HIV/AIDS.

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