Aid for AIDS International is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization committed to improving the quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS in Latin America and the Caribbean and to empower them and their caregivers by providing access to medications, medical monitoring and treatment/prevention education and by promoting leadership and capacity building.

We also work to educate the health care officials and other community based organizations in Latin American and Caribbean nations to strengthen the medical infrastructure and expertise for basic HIV/AIDS care.

Addressing these unmet needs, AFAI collects HIV medications and supplies that are no longer needed in United States, and then distributes them to needy individuals in Latin America and the Caribbean. AFAI also provides leadership and treatment literacy training. Our educational outreach program targets persons living with HIV/AIDS, their caregivers and healthcare providers.

Within the New York City metropolitan area, AFAI also provides case management services for HIV-infected Latin American and Caribbean immigrants and serves as a liaison between these individuals and specialized social workers adept at linking immigrants to medical care and pharmaceutical assistance programs.

For the past eight years, AFAI has provided a vital service to individuals living with HIV/AIDS, their families, their caregivers and medical providers. Until public and private responses to the growing epidemic in the Caribbean and Latin America are commensurate with the extent of need, AFAI remains committed to bridging that gap.

 

WHAT WE DO

 

ACCESS TO TREATMENT

• Medicine Recycling – Collects, sorts, and stores unused, unexpired HIV medication and re-distributes it free of charge through the AIDS Treatment Access Program (ATAP).

• Through the Universal Treatment Access Initiative (UTAI), AFAI has donated large quantities of generic antiretroviral medication to governments in Latin America and the Caribbean.

 

KNOWLEDGE

• Cuanto Sabes de VIH y SIDA / How Much Do You Know About HIV and AIDS? – An innovative peer to peer preventive education program for youth.

• Children's Program - offers children living with HIV emotional, social and academic support and trains them to become mentors for other children in the same situation.

 

SOCIAL REFORM & COMMUNITY SUPPORT

• Department of Advocacy – Identifies and strengthens the capacities of people living with HIV, providing them with the tools to advocate for progressive social policies.

• Observatorio Latino – An online forum that serves as a watchdog for programs financed by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria through its portal: www.observatoriolatino.org

• New York Immigrant AIDS Link (NYIAL) – Provides social services to Latino immigrants in the New York area living with HIV or AIDS. Those services include linking them to appropriate treatment and monitoring their adherence, as well as assistance with housing, financial and immigration problems.