Community organisations in Rio’s favelas (such as CEDAPS and partners) are developing culturally rooted, participatory tools—umbrella games, art, local journalism and festival messaging—to make HIV and TB prevention accessible and relevant.

Young people living with HIV, LGBTQIA support groups and community health workers are driving peer-led education, stigma reduction and comprehensive care that links medical services with mental-health, legal and social support.

The experience underscores that lasting progress against HIV and related inequities depends on community-led solutions that address broader social barriers (sanitation, education, discrimination) rather than top-down interventions alone.

Some of the most important lessons from the recently concluded AIDS 2026 Conference were learnt not inside the conference halls, but on the steep hillsides of dangerous favelas (urban slums) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Favelas in Rio de Janeiro are dense, informal urban communities where over a million people live across more than 1,000 such settlements. Quite a few of them are considered dangerous, some heavily controlled by armed drug-trafficking factions and sites of violent police operations. I could visit one such favela: Morro dos Prazeres in Santa Teresa neighbourhood.

I was fortunate to be part of an educational tour organised by the conference with two local organisations that serve people in this favela: CEDAPS (Centro de Promoção da Saúde or Centre for Health Promotion) and its partner organisation, Instituto Evolux.

Moro dos Prazeres favela became quite popular globally after it was a location of a 2008 movie Elite Squad (Tropa de Elite) as well as for hosting MTV’s celebrity football tournament Rockgol in 2011.

Perched 275 metres above sea level, Morro dos Prazeres (which translates to ‘Hill of Pleasures’) offers breathtaking panoramic views of Guanabara Bay (Bosom of the sea) and the sprawling city below. But behind this picturesque landscape lies a very different reality. Residents continue to face daily barriers to healthcare, education, sanitation and other basic services that directly influence their health outcomes.

The visit showcased how CEDAPS strengthens community participation and advances health equity in vulnerable urban territories through participatory methodologies and community-led approaches addressing HIV, TB, and broader social wellbeing.

Communities co-creating their own solutions

What quickly became evident during our visit was that these communities are not waiting for solutions to arrive from outside. They are creating their own and making HIV prevention meaningful.

During our visit we met community leaders, artists, journalists, youth advocates and health workers who are finding........

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