The NIDA Foundation has created a program to provide informational and protection services to prevent HIV/AIDS among our people. This is necessary to improve people’s health while teaching them how to protect themselves and avoid the spread of the virus.

In Panama young people face a continued risk of HIV and STIs. Thus, good information and education can help impart knowledge and skills to prevent infections and also help to overcome stigma and discrimination.

We have completed a few programs among the youth and adolescents through lectures in local schools where we offered them basic information HIV/AIDS, such as:

• What is HIV/AIDS?
• The difference of HIV and AIDS
• How does it attack the body?
• The difference of an infection and a transmission
• Was in which HIV is transmitted
• Body fluids capable of transmitting HIV
• How to recognize a person with HIV
• Forms of prevention
• How to help a person living with HIV
• How to eradicate the stigma and discrimination

“All of this is due to a lack of information, as there are youth who do not know how to protect themselves from STIs and some whom have never even heard of HIV/AIDS”

We carried out the HIV/AIDS prevention campaign to:

Pedasí high school in the province of Los Santos:

Along with the participation of 21 students, we shared valuable information for the prevention of HIV/AIDS on July 13, 2011. San Miguel Arcángel Institute in the province of Herrera:

Thirty-nine youth of all ages attended the talks we offered, along with the volunteers of NIDA. Lesson at Centro Superior de Bellas Artes in Chitré, Herrera:

We counted the participation of sixteen students from various schools.

VIH/SIDA Pre Carnival Campaign 2011

From Monday February 28 to Wednesday March 2, 2011 the team of NIDA volunteers, altogether with the Denfensoría del Pueblo and the group of young people, VACES, met at the park La Bandera in Chitré to promote and inform the youth about several methods to prevent HIV/AIDS, unwanted pregnancies and STI’s. All these activities took place before the celebration of the Carnival, which encourages young people to have wild sex and uncontrolled drinking among other things.

This year’s motto, “Condonízate… para éstos Carnavales,» was greatly advertised with the help of Ninja Condoms, who supplied us with informational brochures and condoms to give away to the people that walked by the park during the days of our campaign promotion.

Others schools/educational centers we have visited in the past years carrying the prevention message:

In Los Santos:

On March 20th, 2010, the young entrepreneur Jose Daniel Rodriguez and the young people in charge of NIDA traveled to Cañas Island to teach a workshop about precocious pregnancy and STI. Katie Simpson, who is a volunteer of the Body of Peace in this community, organized the workshop. Continuing with the Campaign in Herrera: 

The Azuero’s campaign to prevent HIV/ AIDS “Protégete” was taken to hundreds of young people. The main purpose was to invite adolescents to practice moral values like abstinence and mutual fidelity, as well as, to encourage the use of condoms. Foundation NIDA visited the Jose Daniel Crespo High School in Chitré and Padre Segundo Cano Junior High from June 15th until July 9th of 2010.In Aguadulce:

NIDA volunteers José Daniel Rodríguez and Álvaro Espinosa visited the Rodolfo Chiari High School from the 9th to the 13th of August 2010. They talked about the importance of abstinence and fidelity, as well as the importance of using condoms during extramarital sex. Our team’s HIV/AIDS training was provided by the AID for AIDS organization in Panama

The organization AID for AIDS held a four-day training session in which youth from different provinces of Panama, including NIDA volunteers, attended to multiply agents in the prevention of HIV. Thanks to the information, we have received a broad and comprehensive knowledge in the field of HIV/AIDS.