Brazil - A Leader In Shaping AIDS/HIV Policy

Over the past twenty years, Brazil has proven to be a leader amongst developing countries in its persistent fight against HIV/AIDS. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and Brown University note that Brazil’s fight to provide less pricey generic medications to those patients suffering from HIV/AIDS is one major reason their efforts have proven to be so effective.

Brazil was not afraid to stir up controversy in their pursuit to change the way pharmaceutical companies were doing business. They pursued these companies who offered the pricier name-brand drugs until they pushed their prices down in order to be more affordable to the masses. They also went after those companies that already produced generic drugs and encouraged them to come up with even lower-cost drugs that could be marketed in developing regions. Amy Nunn, the lead author of the study and a professor at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, states, “Brazil has proved it is possible to treat people with AIDS in developing countries.” Nunn goes on to say that because of this creative bargaining, the country was able to save over one billion dollars which helped spur change in AIDS/HIV policy across the globe. Nunn states, “Before Brazil’s efforts, as recently as the year 2000, most people living with HIV/AIDS in developing countries died without receiving treatment.”

During the 1990s, Brazil made an unprecedented stride when it passed a law that guaranteed those who were suffering from HIV/AIDS would have access to free AIDS drug treatments. Brazil also began mass producing its own generic version of AIDS drugs; at the same time, the government also put pressure on pharmaceutical companies to make their name brand drugs more affordable. These companies eventually agreed when Brazil threatened to produce their own generic medications to replace those drugs.

Efforts to contain the epidemic were in the works long before Brazil began working with these pharmaceutical companies, however. In the 1980s, the government began HIV prevention and HIV/AIDS education campaigns which urged the public to get tested and to protect themselves by consistently and correctly using condoms during sexual activities. They also had campaigns in place which were aimed at the highest risk individuals like drug users, homosexual men and prostitutes.

These early efforts proved successful and inspiring. Theirs was an example of how it was possible to treat and halt AIDS in a developing country. Because of this, many changes were made in foreign aid and health policies worldwide. For example, the United States was once a critic of Brazils AIDS/HIV policies; however, over the past six years, the US and other countries have given billions to offer generic versions of AIDS drugs to those suffering from the virus in developing countries. Because of Brazil’s quick and efficient policies, only 0.5% of the country’s population is infected. Nunn feels that this study demonstrates that deaths due to AIDS/HIV can be reduced simply by adequately treating those infected people, as Brazil has shown.