Irene Tami, MS, DMD

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A Questionnaire on HIV/AIDS for the Dental Chief
Officers of the American Countries
Irene Tamí-Maury1, Miguel Agüero Saskia
Estupiñan-Day
1School of Public Health, Department of
Epidemiology and International Health. University
of Alabama at Birmingham
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2007 Fulbright/PAHO Internship
With PAHO Director Dr. Mirta Roses
Oral Health Program June - August 2007
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Regional Offices Americas (AMRO)?PAHO Europe
(EURO) Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO) Africa
(AFRO) South-East Asia (SEARO) Western Pacific
(WPRO)
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Objective
To obtain information about the national policies
of dental care for people living with HIV/AIDS
(PLWHA) in each country/terrritory of the
Americas region
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Methods
Dental policies, strategies and programs for PLWHA
On line questionnaire
Dental Chief Officers
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On-line
English - Spanish
Questionnaire
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SurveyMonkey.com
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Dear Dental Chief Officer of the Region, In
order to provide accurate information on oral
health and the best support for the existing
dental programs, strategies and/or interventions
for People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), the Oral
Health Division at the Pan American Health
Organization (PAHO) is creating a dental network
for the American region (Oral Public Health
Network). Hopefully, this website will encourage
a collaborative behavior, interaction, and
communication among dental centers and
institutions, becoming the premier network for
the dental care providers in the region. In the
following links and according to your favorite
language English http//www.surveymonkey.com/s.a
spx?smqspq3ZJLEtw9SNJoLI_2bpnA_3d_3d Spanish
http//www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?smNJ7vaoBnJfcL
qJHcA_2fhODQ_3d_3d you will have access to a
simple on-line questionnaire. The purpose of the
following questionnaire is to obtain the most
accurate information from the health facilities
providing dental care for PLWHA within the
continent.             Thanks in advance for all
your help, respectfully, Irene Tami, MS,
DMD Regional Oral Health Intern Pan American
Health Organization 525 23rd Street,
NW Washington, DC 20037 Tel [phone] Fax
202.974.3641 email tamiiren_at_paho.org
1st Call 06/25/2007
2nd Call 07/03/2007
3rd Call 07/13/2007
Due 07/16/2007
Extension 08/03/2007
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Results
12 countries/territories - 31.6 of response
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Results Estimation of the HIV Infected
Population
UNAIDS 2006 DENTAL CHIEF
620,000 Brazil 433,000 55,000 Canada
58,000 93,000 Perú 28,941 17,000 Panamá
27,500 7,000 Costa Rica 12,000 36,000 El
Salvador 10,272 28,000 Chile 8,421 9,600 Uruguay
6,463 5,000 Suriname 6000 61,000 Guatemala
3,242 23,000 Ecuador 1,319 61 Cayman Islands 78
25 accuracy
Based on 2006 estimates
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Results Ratio Dentist-HIV patient
Suriname 1132 Guatemala 126 Ecuador 119 Pana
má 18 Perú 15 Canada 13 Brazil
13 Chile 13 Cayman Islands 13 Uruguay
12 Costa Rica 12 El Salvador 12
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Results Availability of dental policy,
strategies, protocols, etc. for PLWHA
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Results Needs reported by the Dental Chief

• Infection control practices in the dental office
• Prevalence of oral lesions in PLWHA
• Discrimination of PLWHA in the dental office
• Dental care and confidentiality related to the
  HIV/AIDS infection

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Results Research scopes more developed in
thepast 5 years on Oral Health and HIV/AIDS

• Increase the knowledge on infection control
  practices in the dental office
• Facilitate the spaces for idea exchange
• On-line forums
• Provide information of sources for financial aid
  for research and projects

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Conclusion

• No communication between researchers and
  decision-makers
• Lack of resources
• Lack of data
• Problem of language
• Invalid contact information

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Conclusion
Dentist avoiding or not considering the HIV/AIDS
infection as an issue The dentist not
considered necessary among the health care team
for PLWHA
HIV/AIDS still a stigma in the region
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Conclusion
HIV/AIDS, a package of care
Dental Care the missing piece?
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Irene Tamí-Maury irene.tami_at_fulbrightmail.org