Treatment for HIV/AIDS in Brazil: strengths, challenges, and opportunities for operations research

• Autor(a) principal: Bastos, Francisco Inácio Pinkusfeld Monteiro
• Data de Publicação: 2001
• Outros Autores: Kerrigan, Deanna, Malta, Monica Siqueira, Cunha, Claudia Carneiro da, Strathdee, Steffanie Anne
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da FIOCRUZ (ARCA)
• Texto Completo: https://www.arca.fiocruz.br/handle/icict/635
• topic: Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; HIV; AIDS

Brazil is the only middle-income country to provide free, universal access to antiretroviral (ARV) therapy for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. Currently, the Brazilian National STD/AIDS Program provides ARV therapy to over 95,000 people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). But a successful HIV/AIDS treatment program must provide more than drugs. It must offer a comprehensive set of services along the continuum of care and support, including promoting early entrance into care, facilitating adherence to ARV therapy especially among vulnerable populations, integrating psychosocial support services into care, ensuring that access to ARV therapy does not lead to unintended behaviors, and providing ongoing training to medical personnel and psychosocial support staff. Additionally, the ARV therapy and related support services must be affordable. Brazil has been engaged in a permanent effort to foster national production of ARV and to negotiate substantial discounts with international drug companies. This paper outlines Brazil's significant achievements in creating and sustaining access to ARVs and other anti-AIDS drugs as well as developing innovative care and support services with which to respond to the multifaceted needs of PLWHA in Brazil. The paper also reviews the improvements in AIDS-related mortality and morbidity and subsequent cost savings attributed to the provision of universal access to ARV therapy in Brazil.