At a glance
CDC works with partners in Brazil to build sustainable public health capacity, strengthen laboratory systems and surveillance networks, deliver high-quality HIV diagnostic, treatment, and prevention services, and respond swiftly to disease outbreaks at their source, preventing health threats from reaching the U.S.
Strategic focus
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Brazil plays a key role in achieving the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) goal of controlling the HIV epidemic. CDC focuses on people with the most recent infections and the highest rates of HIV in Brazil. CDC's activities are built on key pillars, including health systems strengthening, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), early diagnosis of HIV infection, linkage to appropriate care, rapid engagement in treatment, minimizing treatment interruption, and managing advanced HIV.
CDC provides technical leadership and direct assistance to Brazil's Ministry of Health (MOH) and state and municipal health departments to enhance HIV programming, monitoring and evaluation, and epidemiological surveillance. CDC also leads and supports research, trainings, and knowledge exchanges to decentralize HIV services within the primary care network. This is achieved through capacity building for human resources, strengthening health systems, and providing direct services in Campo Grande/MS, Curitiba/PR, Florianópolis/SC, Fortaleza/CE, and Porto Alegre/RS.
Read more about CDC's most recent key activities and accomplishments below.
Building public health capacity
- Established community-led monitoring, allowing beneficiaries to monitor the quality and accessibility of HIV treatment services through independent civil society organizations (CSOs).
- Collaborated with local CSOs to promote peer education and capacity-building activities.
- Improved HIV diagnosis in the country through index testing for better outreach and using recency testing to understand drivers of new infections and improve prevention and testing efforts.
- Supported health facilities that fully adopt differentiated service delivery models. This includes extended hours, telehealth, rapid antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation, PrEP, post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), and the use of HIV navigators to minimize treatment interruptions. Experienced in the public health system, HIV navigators reach out to patients with HIV to help re-engage them in ART.
Strengthening laboratory systems and networks
- Introduced home delivery of PrEP and ART for people living with HIV, offering a convenient option to ensure continuous access to HIV prevention and care.
- Supported the MOH in providing expertise to the Brazilian National AIDS program to reduce HIV prevalence and incidence estimations among populations at greater risk of HIV through knowledge, attitudes, practices, and behavior surveys in addition to HIV incidence studies in the country.
HIV prevention and treatment
- Collaborated with municipal health departments to expand access to HIV testing through a request-and-delivery web platform and mobile application. Users can choose to receive HIV test kits by mail or pick them up in a health facility or in digital dispensing lockers strategically placed to ensure privacy and confidentiality.
By the numbers
HIV
Estimated HIV Prevalence (Ages 15-49)
0.6% (2023)
Estimated HIV Deaths (Age≥15)
Reported Number Receiving Antiretroviral Therapy (Age≥15)
TB
Estimated TB Incidence
49/100,000 (2023)
12% (2023)
TB Treatment Success Rate
66% (2022)