SUPPORTING
+1,350
PEOPLE
WITH MONTHLY TREATMENT
REACHED
+55,000
PEOPLE WITH
LIVE-SAVING MEDICATION
SUSTAINED A
90% ADHERENCE
RATE THROUGH
CASE MANAGEMENT
Since its founding in 1996, AID FOR AIDS (AFA) has worked to ensure that no one loses access to treatment due to economic, migratory, or structural barriers. What began as an innovative antiretroviral medication recycling program — at a time when public access to treatment did not yet exist in many countries — has evolved into a comprehensive model of treatment access, therapeutic continuity, and clinical support in complex contexts. Today, AFA’s Access to Treatment Program combines multiple strategies to close gaps where public health systems fall short.
With the expansion of universal access in many countries, AFA adapted its model to cover situations where structural gaps still persist, including rescue therapies, next-generation medications not available in public systems, cases of therapeutic resistance, migrants excluded due to their immigration status, and documented interruptions in government-provided treatment.
We work in coordination with treating physicians and health systems to ensure treatment continuity when administrative or structural barriers exist.
In addition to international support, AFA ensures treatment access through direct care models in the countries where it operates.
Dominican Republic Through our Tu Salud center and the SAI (Comprehensive Care Service) model, we provide treatment with medications supplied by the national health system, along with clinical support and community follow-up for people living with HIV in vulnerable situations.
Colombia Through Tu Salud Global (IPS), we offer comprehensive medical care to vulnerable and migrant populations, including antiretroviral treatment funded through pharmaceutical donations, federal funds, and international cooperation.
These models integrate medication access, clinical follow-up, and psychosocial support under a single care framework.
In crisis contexts — such as the Venezuelan emergency — AFA has ensured treatment access through mass pharmaceutical donations, direct medication purchases with private funds, shipment of HIV therapies and opportunistic infection treatments, access to treatment for other STIs such as syphilis and hepatitis B, subsidized CD4 and viral load testing, and adherence and community follow-up programs.
Our approach recognizes that treatment is not just about providing medications — it is about continuity of care.
The Treatment Access Program includes case management, adherence counseling, periodic clinical follow-up, coordination with local care pathways, inter-institutional coordination, and psychosocial support in high-vulnerability contexts.
Our goal with this program has always been that crossing a border or lacking legal status should never mean losing access to treatment.
Who Can Access the Program?
The Treatment Access Program is designed for people living with HIV who face economic, migratory, or structural barriers to accessing antiretroviral therapy.
Eligible applicants include people without public or private coverage, migrants who have lost access due to immigration status, people with therapeutic resistance requiring medications unavailable in national health systems, and cases with documented interruptions in treatment provision.
Final eligibility is determined by our medical team following individual clinical review.
General Requirements
To begin the evaluation process, the applicant must have a confirmed HIV diagnosis, an treating physician, an updated medical prescription, relevant clinical history and recent results (CD4, viral load, or other pertinent studies), and certification that no other source of coverage is available for the requested treatment.
All documentation must be current and verifiable.
How Does the Process Work?
Coverage and Availability
The program is open to people in developing countries who meet the established criteria.
Medication availability depends on the current recycling program inventory, active pharmaceutical donations, funds available for direct purchase, and medical evaluation of the case.
Since the pandemic, the availability of recycled medications has decreased significantly, so each request is evaluated based on active inventory and resources.
AFA reserves the right to determine the viability of each request based on availability and clinical criteria.
Contact for Applications
To begin the application process, please contact:
Treatment Access Department AID FOR AIDS – New York Leonardo Klie LKlie@aidforaids.org
