Last Friday (22), the City of São Paulo received the 1st Circle of Excellence Award in the Fast-Track Cities 2021 Conference, organised by the Fast Track Institute, by the International Association of Care Providers for AIDS and by the Conjoined Program of United Nations for HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). The award, which was also granted to four other cities, recognised the results achieved by São Paulo to amplify the diagnosis and treatment of HIV, reduce the number of new infections and reach a more vulnerable population, such as the LGBTQIA+.

During the event, Mayor Ricardo Nunes participated of the High Level Panel “Humanism in Public Policies, and talked about how the work of the Coordinatorship of STD/AIDS of the Municipal Department of Health has made the city achieve or be closer to the goals established by the Paris Agreement , signed by the municipality. In the award ceremony, the Coordinator of STD/AIDS, Maria Cristina Abbate, thanked São Paulo and highlighted the results achieved.

The Municipality has more than 450 Basic Healthcare Units and a specialised network of STD/AIDS with 26 services. In the first semester of 2021, 85% of the diagnosed people with HIV initiated the antiretroviral treatment in the first month of diagnosis, a number that was equal to only 15% in 2016.

The Brazilian Ministry of Health estimates that 87% of people with HIV in the City are aware of their serology. Of about 45 thousand diagnosed people accompanied by the municipal network, 85% are in treatment and, among these, 95% have an undetectable virus count, which means the virus is therefore, untransmittable. The numbers are considered by the Fast-Track Institute as “An example and model to be followed by the further cities of the Institute” and approximated to the goal 95-95-95 established by UNAIDS.

To check the article in Portuguese, click here.