Brazil's 'remarkable' AIDS Policy

November 15, 2007

Brazil's Aids policy 'remarkable'

By Duffy, BBC News, Sao o

Bargaining with pharmaceutical firms to bring down the price of Aids

drugs and producing cheap generic versions has saved Brazil $1bn, a

study has shown.

Infection rates in the Latin American country have been kept at a

similar level to the US, the report finds.

And more than 180,000 Brazilians have access to Aids treatment.

Brazil's achievement is described as " remarkable " , in the study

published by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health in

the United States.

Brazil's policy for dealing with HIV and Aids has long been widely

admired for its commitment to effective treatment combined with an

aggressive promotion of the safe sex message.

In 1996 it became the first developing country to commit to providing

free and universal access to Aids drugs.

Broken patent

Now a study published in the Public Library of Science journal by

researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health suggests the

policy has saved Brazil around $1bn between 2001 and 2005.

By threatening to produce cheaper generic versions of existing drugs,

the government has repeatedly persuaded companies to reduce their

prices.

Earlier this year Brazil broke the patent on the Aids drug Efavirenz

and decided to import a cheaper version from India.

Drugs companies have warned that action like this would only

discourage them from carrying out the expensive research needed to

improve the drugs required to treat HIV.

Brazil says the decision was taken in the public interest, which is

why it also produces generic versions of eight drugs that do not have

patents.

To some extent the policy has been a victim of its own success, with

the new research suggesting drug costs rose rapidly as treatment was

provided to more people who were also living longer.

Researchers also say other developing countries are now proving more

successful in producing cheaper generic Aids drugs and Brazil, which

once led the way with this approach, needs to be more aggressive.

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