FOCUS: new project reinforces HIV screening in migrant communities

In July 2025, the Treatment Activists Group (GAT) launched the FOCUS Lisbon Region project, with the support of Gilead Sciences, as part of the international FOCUS Program. The initiative aims to strengthen integrated screening for HIV, hepatitis B and C, and syphilis, with a special focus on migrant communities in the Lisbon Region, which face greater barriers to accessing prevention and healthcare.

The project plans to implement opportunistic screening in six GAT community sexual health centers and three mobile units, as well as strengthening migrant peer support in navigating healthcare. In addition to screening and connecting people to care, the project expands access to anonymous partner notification tools in cases of sexually transmitted infections (STI).

A 2024 study by the Anti-Discrimination Center for HIV and AIDS (CAD), in collaboration with GAT, revealed that bureaucracy is one of the main barriers faced by migrants in accessing healthcare in Portugal, in addition to discrimination, which 28% of respondents reported being associated with their origin, ethnic-racial identity, or HIV status.

Persistent stigma is a big problem regarding HIV prevention. Stigma can take many forms, such as being treated differently because of gender, race, or sexual orientation. With HIV testing, stigma refers to negative thoughts and feelings about people living with HIV or those who engage in high-risk activities like unprotected sex or drug use. People are afraid to get tested or reveal HIV status because of such attitudes, which causes shame and social isolation.

Barriers such as stigma are addressed by FOCUS Program: “FOCUS Lisbon Region represents a unique opportunity to address healthcare access barriers and ensure timely diagnosis and linkage to care for migrants, including undocumented migrants” says Luís Mendão, long-standing HIV activist and Director-General of GAT.

The international FOCUS program, created by Gilead Sciences, aims to support public and community health organizations in integrating systematic screening and linkage to care for HIV and viral hepatitis. With more than 500 active and graduated partnerships in 3 countries, the program has contributed to early diagnosis and assure access to healthcare.

The director of the FOCUS Program at Gilead Sciences in Portugal and Spain, José Luis González, praises the strategic value of this collaboration: “The continuation of the FOCUS project in Lisbon Region promotes a community strategy that has already proven its effectiveness, both in Lisbon and in other cities around the world.”

FOCUS Lisbon Region adapts this approach to the Portuguese context, strengthening the role of community organizations in the response to HIV and hepatitis, and promoting closer integration between community health and the National Health System.