Red Day: STIs Approach and Sex Education – IFMSA-Brazil

Name of the activity: Red Day: STIs Approach and Sex Education

Country/NMO: IFMSA-Brazil

Program: HIV, AIDS and other STIs

Contact information: contact [email protected] to get in touch with the Activity Coordinator

Type of the activity: First-time Activity

Category: Education

Focus area: Prevention of all STIs or are specific STIs, STI testing

Sustainable Development Goals addressed: SDG 3 (Good health and Well-Being), SDG 4 (Quality Education)

Problem statement:

WHO estimates that for every 20 individuals between the ages of 15 and 24, one becomes infected with some STI every year. Linked to the problem is the lack of knowledge on the part of adolescents and young adults about STI symptoms or even about the absence of symptoms. According to the Ministry of Health’s epidemiological bulletin on syphilis (2019), in 2018 there was a syphilis detection rate in Brazil, in the age group 13-19 years, around 70 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Target groups:

• Children
• Youth

Beneficiaries:

• Medical students
• Children
• Youth

Objectives:

1. Expand access to information on sexual health for young people from Fortaleza-CE registered in Rede Cuca;
2. Promote education about Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) for young people from Fortaleza-CE registered in Rede Cuca;
3. Carry out quick testing for some ISTs for young people from Fortaleza-CE registered in Rede Cuca;
4. Understand the prior knowledge of young people from Fortaleza-CE registered in Rede Cuca on sexual health and STIs;
5. Assess the impact of sexual health education on young people from Fortaleza-CE registered in Rede Cuca.

Indicators of Success:

1. At least 75% of young people covered by the action demonstrate, with access to information on sexual health, a reduction in prejudice and taboos surrounding sexual education and STIs;
2. At least 75% of young people covered by the action, increase/acquire knowledge about Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), through the dynamics of Myths and Truths;
3. Young people covered by the action undergo rapid testing for some STIs, resulting in health promotion and prevention of injuries resulting from STIs;
4. Students participating in the action are able to measure the prior knowledge of young people from Fortaleza-CE registered in Rede Cuca about sexual health and STIs;
5. Both young people and students involved in the action are able to understand the positive impact and importance of sexual health education.

Methodology:

The purpose of the activity is to democratize access to sexual health for young people, using a preexisting link between this population and the Urban Center for Culture, Art, Science and Sport (Rede Cuca) in the Mondubim neighborhood. It consists of a day of collective effort, in April, in which the intention is to carry out rapid tests for Syphilis, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV, in addition to sexual health education, especially about STIs, for young people registered with Rede Cuca, all accompanied by professor advisor Dr. Frederico Esteche. Such education takes place through a dynamic based on the concept of “Myths and Truths”, in which statements are made about STIs, rapid tests and sex education and the participants in the action raise signs written “myth” or “truth” according to their knowledge about the subjects. There will be a research project for scientific production and publication about the data collected in the activity

Plans for evaluation:

The impact measurement of the activity occurs through a form that, in addition to characterizing the target audience, assesses the participants’ knowledge about rapid tests and STIs and the perception they had about the activity, added to the responses on sexual health topics recorded in the dynamic “Myths and Truths”

External collaborations:

There is a partnership with Rede Cuca, a social protection and opportunities network formed by a set of three cultural, sporting and educational complexes called Urban Centers for Culture, Art, Science and Sport of Fortaleza-CE, more specifically the Cuca Mondubim.