Dominican Republic

HIV/AIDS in Dominican Republic

• 0.9% Estimated Prevalence
  (Age 15–49)
• 2,300 Estimated Deaths (2009)
• N/A Estimated Orphans
• 13,785 Reported Number of People Receiving ART
• 29,000 Estimated Number of People Needing ART
  
  

  SOURCE:
  UNAIDS Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic, November 2010

HIV/AIDS Assets and Strategic Focus

Strategic Focus
CDC has been providing HIV/AIDS technical assistance to the Dominican Republic (DR) since 2006 and opened an in-country office in 2008. Currently, CDC is working with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Presidential Commission on HIV/AIDS (COPRESIDA) to strengthen the country’s public health systems and services with a strategic focus on building surveillance systems, laboratory capacity, blood safety, providing HIV prevention services to most-at-risk population and building MOH and health workforce capacity.

Strengthening Laboratory Systems
CDC is providing technical leadership and assistance to help the DR build national capacity in the design, establishment and maintenance of high-quality national laboratory services and systems that are maintained by qualified, local laboratorians to ensure long-term sustainability.

Strengthening Public Health Systems
CDC works to strengthen in-country capacity to design, implement, and evaluate HIV/AIDS-related surveillance systems, as well as improve broader national health information systems to collect, store, analyze, and use high-quality data for the implementation of evidence-based prevention, care and treatment programming.

Promoting Blood Safety
CDC provides technical assistance in strengthening capacity to collect, process, store and distribute blood and its components. In 2012, CDC will collaborate with five public blood banks to increase their technical expertise, to enhance their capacity in processing blood, and to promote voluntary donations.

Targeted HIV Prevention Services
CDC is leading prevention efforts that target most-at-risk population including men who have sex with men, mobile populations, and intravenous drug users.

Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT)
CDC is providing technical assistance by working directly with ten hospitals that handle approximately 80% of all deliveries in the country.