Community & prevention: The experience of the condom banks

The main goal of this research was to study the work developed by community health agents of "Condom Banks" in two Rio de Janeiro slums, to increase the visibility of their efforts.
“Condom Banks” were created by Medecins Sans Frontieres as spaces to promote prevention and reduce vulnerability to STD/Aids. This initiative is now managed by community health agents there are also residents of these regions.
A survey was carried out in 6 “Condom Banks” to draw a profile of their users and the agents involved, including an analysis of their necessities and characteristics. This analysis had as theoretical and practical references (i) the perspective of  the social determination of health, (ii) the importance of social participation to face health problems and (iii) that health as a human and citizen right must presuppose the right to prevention, understood as a right to information, education and inputs to fight illness.
The agents were also protagonists of the research, turning their daily life into an object of study. Through a change of perspective about their work, they started to see their actions from a new analytical frame. Recording their daily prevention activities, the research group made a video-documentary to be used as a research tool, but also as a strategy to spread the importance of prevention among these and other communities.
The research made it possible to build a profile of “Condom Banks” users, improving the strategies of approach. It also promoted links with other social actors, mainly with the MOH and its structures, and inside of the community, by analyzing power relations and its impacts over prevention.
The systematization and analysis of the actions and strategies developed by the agents also contributed in addressing important issues for an efficient public prevention policy to face STD/Aids in poor communities.