Border/Binational HIV Leadership Award / Premio al Liderazgo en VIH en la Frontera-Binacional: Jorge Saavedra, MD, MPH, MHPM
Director
Centro Nacional para la Prevención y el Control del VIH/SIDA (CENSIDA)
Ciudad de México, Distrito Federal México
Director
National HIV/AIDS Program in Mexico (CENSIDA)
Mexico City, Mexico
Jorge Saavedra, MD, MPH, MHPM has been the director of the National HIV/AIDS Programme in Mexico (CENSIDA) since 2003. He has an MPH and MHPM from Harvard University and an MD from National Autonomous University of Mexico.
Dr. Saavedra was responsible for launching the Universal Access to Antiretrovirals policy in Mexico. Currently, the universal access program and social security system provide treatment for 47,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Mexico. In 2004 Dr. Saavedra was also responsible for launching an official anti-machismo education campaign. In 2005, he launched the first government-endorsed anti-homophobia campaign in Mexico. In 2006 Dr. Saavedra appointed the first transgender woman in an official position with the Mexican Government. In the last two years Dr. Saavedra has served as a Board Member for the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, representing Latin America and the Caribbean. In this role he and three other board members developed the sexual minorities decision point. In 2000, he founded the first ambulatory HIV Clinic in Mexico (Clinica Condesa in Mexico City); it is currently the largest HIV care center in Mexico and one of the largest in Latin-America. Dr. Saavedra has written several publications related to costs and financing of HIV in Latin America and Mexico and is the recipient of several national and regional awards, including the National Gay Merit Award. As the first openly gay person to be in a high level position inside the Mexican government, Dr. Saavedra is currently working towards a new goal: To officially declare the 51 new HIV Ambulatory Care Clinics in Mexico as "Homophobia Free Services." Biographical statement courtesy International AIDS Society AIDS 2008 Website Links | 
