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Bahiana holds another HTLV Carriers Meeting

The event was a partnership between the HTLV Center, the HTLVida Association and the Cuidar Faz bem Extension Program.

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The courtyard of the Academic Unit Brotas hosted, on the morning of June 3, another Annual Meeting of the HTLV Center and HTLVida Association. The event, which aims to present a biannual feedback on the activities developed by the center and the association, was attended by Dr. Bernardo Galvão, collaborators, professors and students of Bahiana, as well as HTLVida board members and HTLV holders.

The program included a presentation by the group Terapeutas do Riso, who presented the event with the transfer of four entries for the 1st Congress on Humanization, Welcoming and Art in Health, which were raffled among those present.

In addition, nursing students who are part of the Cuidar Faz Bem Extension Program and academic scholarship holders from the HTLV Center presented musical performances during the event. For the Nursing student and HTLV Center Research Fellow, Jaddy Kelly, “HTLV is a neglected disease that many professionals and students are unaware of. So, when I saw the possibility of studying HTLV, I saw a new experience, an open door to receive and spread information about the disease. In addition, it is an enriching learning experience, because, at the center, we have Psychology, Physical Education and several courses that interact in a single objective, which is the patient's quality of life. We are also much more sensitive to the cause of the citizen with HTLV. In addition to growing as a student, I feel that I grew, mainly, as a human being with a differentiated look and a qualified listening”.

     

For Rebeca Belo, also a scholarship holder at the center and a student of the 9th semester of Nursing, actions such as the meeting bring personal benefits to the HTLV bearer because many stay at home and do not know the studies being carried out. “Here, they can see the importance of participating in the treatment at the center, because all of this is being turned into data that can be studied. In addition, they can meet other carriers, exchange experiences, make friends, and this, for us students, is enriching, as we ended up being involved and encouraged to do even more work related to the topic”.

According to the president of the HTLVida Association, Adejane Oliveira, some achievements could be presented, such as the participation of the state government, via the Health Department (SESAB). "The general objective of the meeting is precisely to give feedback from both the HTLV Center and the HTLVida Association and present the achievements, the completion of the work, what we have achieved positively, what we have brought benefits to the carriers who are the object of research work. The main result of the association is precisely this provocation at the municipal and state levels. At the municipal level, unfortunately, we still haven't managed to achieve an opening, but in the State it is much more open, we are already creating a line of care for the HTLV carrier with monthly meetings and I see that progress is being made, as there is interest”.

For the nurse at SESAB's Disease Coordination and coordinator of the STD/HIV/AIDS Research Group, Regina Célia Lima Cardoso, the HTLV Center at Bahiana plays a key role in achieving citizenship for the HTLV bearer. “The Center that has been playing an important role in society, through the HTLVida Association, and the support of the Health Department is precisely to offer another work front. Our intention is that this will also be taken to other schools that take on a citizenship role. We hope that the HTLV Center strengthens the other schools, together with the State in the context of promoting an action of dignity and value to life and that the Bahiana continue in your role of strengthening HTLV carriers together with organized civil society so that these people have prevention and not just rehabilitation”.

     

According to the psychologist at the HTLV Center, Ana Verena Galvão, the work developed with HTLV carriers covers all areas of health, promoting a multidisciplinary approach. The unit has nurses, psychologists, infectious disease specialists, dermatologists, members of the mental health clinic, neurologists and ophthalmologists. “It is a team that aims at an integrated work of the patient, not only seeing the disease, but the individual as a biopsychosocial being who needs to improve their quality of life. So, we promote a service with the entire team, on Tuesdays. We have great support from Nursing, which is always working towards this integrated care, and we have been in this work for ten years. Patients feel very welcomed, listened to and assisted. We always hear that HTLV is an orphan virus and that it creates a sense of abandonment, but HTLV is not an orphan. THE Bahiana, through the HTLV Center, took up this cause and continues to do so”. 

The coordinator of Cuidar Faz Bem, professor Aidê Nunes, explains that the program has as one of its premises to promote the approximation of Nursing students with the work developed by the HTLVida Association, as there is an understanding that the training process also involves understanding the value of social bodies and organizations.  

It also reaffirms the importance of establishing a network of special attention to the virus carrier. “We health professionals have the knowledge, but we need to have a critical eye to understand that we have a still fragile health care network. With this action, our students from Cuidar Faz Bem begin to realize the scenario of Salvador, where there is a high prevalence of patients with HTLV and that there is no established health care network. THE Escola Bahiana de Medicina e Saúde Pública it has been doing its part, but we understand that it is necessary to have a network that handles the diversity of demands that involve these citizens. This meeting that the HTLV Center promotes with citizens and the association has a very special meaning for us, professors, for the center's staff and for academics, as it is a meeting in which the right to information is legitimized”.