Breaking the silence.

Venezuela's Accion Solidaria and other non-governmental organizations are set to launch the country's first HIV prevention and education effort. In addition to the $7 million campaign, activists in the country have seen a number of recent successes. Accion Solidaria has been successfully incorporated into a nonprofit group in the United States, called Action of Solidarity. Other successes include the First National Venezuelan Meeting of People Living with HIV and AIDS to be held in mid-October, and the upcoming launch of Venezuela's first AIDS hotline. The hotline, part of the education and prevention campaign, will be launched by Red MetSIDA, an umbrella organization for AIDS groups in Venezuela. The effort will also feature a high-profile media campaign to bring prevention information to the public and dispel AIDS-related myths. Accion Cuidadana Contra el SIDA, Venezuela's first AIDS organization, has successfully represented 37 HIV-infected individuals who were either irregularly receiving AZT and 3TC or whose physicians were not prescribing triple-drug therapies. The lawsuit, filed against the Venezuelan social security system, argued that the patients' rights were being violated.