The theme HIV/AIDS and antiretroviral drugs in high school: the intertwining of sex education and the teaching of biochemistry

According to the Ministry of Health's National STD /AIDS Program, there is a significant increase in the number of HIV infections in youth. Although new therapies are available to the population and the 31st anniversary of the fight against AIDS has been celebrated, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that about 1 million people die each year because they do not know they are infected with HIV or for starting too late treatment against the disease, which reinforces the need to address the issue of HIV/AIDS, also in the Brazilian educational context. In this sense, the objective of this paper was to promote reflections on the theme of HIV/AIDS through a didactic sequence in the context of biochemistry teaching. The project was developed with 22 third year high school students from a public school in the municipality of Blumenau, regularly enrolled at night. The didactic sequence was divided into three stages: (i) the initial written record of stereotypes involving a seropositive person, followed by the screening of the documentary "Positives"; (ii) conducting and analyzing a class with an experimental activity on the viral cycle and; (iii) conducting and analyzing a verse on antiretroviral drugs. The experience in this activity allowed students a space for reflection and discussion on stigma linked to seropositivity, questions about sexuality and the identification of the importance of chemistry knowledge for the development of drugs with antiretroviral properties.