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Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical 48(Suppl I):87-97, 2015http://dx.doi. org/10.1590/0037-8682-0106-2014 Major Article INTRODUCTION ABSTRACT Introduction:In 2011, the Brazilian Ministry of Health rolled out a program for the external quality assessment of rapid human immunodefi ciency virus (HIV) tests using the dried tube specimen (DTS) method (EQA-RT/DTS-HIV). Our objective was to evaluate the implementation of this program at 71 voluntary counseling and testing centers (VCTCs) in the Brazilian Legal Amazonian area one year after its introduction. Methods: Quantitative and qualitative study that analyzed secondary data and interviews with healthcare workers (HCWs) (n=39) and VCTC coordinators (n=32) were performed. The assessment used 18 key indicators to evaluate the three dimensions of the program's logical framework: structure, process, and result. Each indicator was scored from 1-4, and the aggregate results corresponding to the dimensions were expressed as proportions. The results were compared to the perceptions of the HCWs and coordinators regarding the EQA-RT/DTS-HIV program. Results: The aggregate scores for the three dimensions of structure, process, and result were 91.7%, 78.6%, and 95%, respectively. The lowest score in each dimension corresponded to a different indicator: access to Quali-TR online system 39% (structure), registration in Quali-TR online system 38.7% (process), and VCTC completed the full process in the program's fi rst round 63.4% (result). Approximately 36% of the HCWs and 52% of the coordinators reported enhanced trust in the program for its rapid HIV testing performance. Conclusions: All three program dimensions exhibited satisfactory results (>75%). Nevertheless, the study fi ndings highlight the need to improve certain program components. Additionally, long-term followups is needed to provide a more thorough picture of the process for external quality assessment.

Our bio-behavioral survey found the prevalence of HIV consistently high among trans women in Paraguay, confirming this population remains the most severely affected. The young age of the population, the young age of sexual debut, the high partner number, and inconsistent condom use point to high potential for continuing transmission. New strategies are necessary to improve education on reducing acquisition risk among transgender women.

AIDS, syphilis and gonorrhea are prevalent STDs in China listed as category B notifiable infectious diseases in the law.•Category B notifiable infectious diseases are required to be reported within 24 hours in the national surveillance system, however there is a 1-2 week delay of publication of official statistics. Using search data to predict can potentially overcome publication delay and help health authorities to make preemptive preventative and treatment plans.•In China there has been no research evaluating the use of search engine data in predicting AIDS and other STDs. Baidu holds the highest search engine market penetration rate in China (93.1% in December, 2015). It is currently the most representative tool to measure search engine users' behaviors in the country.We aimed to use Baidu search data in the autoregressive model combined with past notified incidence case counts to monitor and predict AIDS, syphilis and gonorrhea in China. Data SourcesThe search volume data of keywords: http://index.baidu.com/The original keywords set: http://tool.chinaz.com/ Keywords Selection and FilteringExclusion Criteria:1.Words irrelevant to the incidence of AIDS, syphilis and gonorrhea, such as 'The World AIDS Day' etc. 2. Words with an interrupted time series representing Baidu search index, i.e. anecdotes about celebrities or media hype.3. Words that few people use in real life search whose Baidu search index was always zero in a long period of time (6 months or longer). 4. Words whose Baidu search index's Spearman's rank correlation coefficients with the monthly reported incidence case counts was less than 0.4.