WHO WE ARE:
OUR APPROACH
A people-centered model for sustainable impact
At AID FOR AIDS we work from a clear conviction: sustainable results are only possible when people are at the center of every intervention. For nearly 30 years, we have developed and refined a comprehensive approach that responds to urgent health needs while also addressing the structural conditions that create vulnerability.
Our work combines immediate humanitarian response, systems strengthening, and community empowerment to reduce the impact of HIV and improve the quality of life of historically excluded populations.
Putting the most vulnerable people at the center
AFA focuses its action on populations facing the greatest barriers to accessing health and social protection services, including migrants and displaced persons, LGBTIQ+ communities, sex workers, children and adolescents living with HIV, and indigenous peoples.
We understand that vulnerability to HIV does not exist in isolation. It is deeply linked to poverty, discrimination, gender inequalities, human mobility, and limited access to rights. For this reason, our interventions go beyond clinical care and address the social and structural factors that perpetuate risk and exclusion.
A comprehensive care model
Our programs do not operate in isolation. We integrate health services with education, psychosocial support, leadership development, and economic empowerment — because health cannot be sustained without dignity, stability, and opportunity.
Across all our programs we combine:
- Access to treatment and continuity of care
- Community education and prevention
- Case management and psychosocial support
- Leadership training and capacity building
- Linkage to social protection, legal support, and livelihoods
This model allows us to accompany people throughout their life journey, not only in moments of emergency.
Innovation as a driver of impact
Innovation has been part of AFA’s DNA since its inception. We were born developing unconventional solutions to respond to contexts where health systems could not guarantee access to essential treatments.
Medication recycling (foundational innovation): AFA operates the world’s largest antiretroviral recycling program, having redistributed over USD $220 million in HIV medications, reaching more than 55,000 people across 75 low- and middle-income countries. This pioneering logistics model positioned AFA as a global actor in treatment access and saved thousands of lives in humanitarian and institutionally fragile contexts. Today, this program remains active and continues to be one of the organization’s core technical and operational pillars.
Over time, AFA has evolved its approach, expanding innovation toward direct and comprehensive care models:
Direct care through our own centers: In the Dominican Republic and Colombia, AFA operates direct health care models that integrate medical services, psychosocial support, and community coordination, strengthening continuous access to care for vulnerable and migrant populations.
Complementary innovations: AFA continues developing initiatives that expand its impact, including social and economic innovation models such as El Baúl de AFA, and digital health solutions currently in pilot phase, aimed at strengthening continuity of care in contexts of human mobility.
Strategic partnerships for systemic change
We understand that lasting change requires collaboration. We work in partnership with governments, multilateral agencies, international cooperation, the private sector, and community organizations.
These partnerships allow us to:
- Scale proven interventions
- Strengthen local health and social protection systems
- Contribute technical evidence for public policy advocacy
- Leave built capacity in the territories
Our role is both operational and strategic: we implement programs while contributing to transforming systems.
Local presence, regional impact
AFA works through local teams with deep knowledge of their contexts. With offices in Peru, Colombia, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and the United States, we respond swiftly to emerging crises, adapt programs to national realities, and build trust-based relationships with communities.
This territorial presence allows us to combine global expertise with local leadership, ensuring relevance, effectiveness, and accountability.
Transparency, learning, and continuous improvement
We are committed to transparency and continuous learning. All our programs have monitoring and evaluation systems that measure not only reach, but real changes in people’s lives.
This culture of learning allows us to improve our strategies, share best practices, and demonstrate concrete results to funders, partners, and communities.
Looking Ahead
As contexts evolve, our approach adapts as well. AFA will continue expanding innovative models that have already proven their impact, strengthening the sustainability of its operations through diversified funding, and deepening strategic partnerships that broaden its reach.
Guided by our mission, we remain committed to reducing vulnerability, promoting health equity, and building pathways to well-being and dignity across Latin America and beyond.