An application aimed at sex education and the prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) was developed by João Victor Manço Rensende, a student of the Nursing course at Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF). Called Prev-IST, the application intends to transmit reliable information in a fast, accessible and free way for the population.
The platform’s programming was carried out by Igor Barreto Meirelles, a student of Technology in Computing Systems and Pibinova scholarship holder at the Consortium Center for Distance Higher Education of the State of Rio de Janeiro (CEDERJ), with the guidance of the professor of Collective Health, Public Policies and Scientific Methodology at UFF, Jorge Luiz Lima.
:: Know when and where to test for Sexually Transmitted Infections ::
How it works?
When accessing the application, through the link or QRcode, the user is presented with some reading possibilities, such as: information about STIs (symptoms and mode of transmission), combined prevention (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis – PrEP, Post-Exposure Prophylaxis – PEP, regular testing, vaccination and others), puberty, contraceptive methods, sexual violence and videos. Materials can be found on the Instagram and the videos, produced by the channel Ciência & Saúde UFF, are also available on YouTube.
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For greater dissemination of these contents, the application has been used and presented in public schools, such as Colégio Universitário Geraldo Reis (Coluni-UFF), in health education actions. For João Victor, access to education can be effective in controlling the number of people with STIs in Brazil, allowing the understanding of healthy health practices, in addition to forming a network of conscious people who do not propagate taboos regarding these subjects.
Still according to the student, the importance of this type of project in the communities would be to promote health, through “a process that aims to empower the community, aiming at improving the quality of life, with interfaces in different sectors”.
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According to UFF, information and communication technologies in the health area, exemplified in this study through the use of the app, are potential resources for improving the population’s health indices.
Source: BdF Rio de Janeiro
Editing: Jacqueline Deister
