Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Access to antiretrovirals: where South Africa, China, and Brazil meet

2004; Elsevier BV; Volume: 363; Issue: 9407 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0140-6736(04)15507-4

1474-547X

Jane Galvão,

Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health

Adele Baleta's News item (Nov 29, p 1811),1Baleta A South Africa approves plan for universal access to antiretrovirals.Lancet. 2003; 362: 1811Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar addresses the South African government's stated plan to distribute antiretrovirals to all who need them. This resolution is cause for praise. China also recently announced an initiative to distribute antiretrovi-rals. An editorial in The New York Times2Editorial Two nations fight AIDS.The New York Times. Nov 23, 2003; : 10Google Scholar recognised both measures, but accurately cautioned that the existence of local networks that struggle for access to treatment—such as are relatively well developed in South Africa and include prominent activists such as Zackie Achmat and his colleagues—could be crucial for the success of such initiatives. China has yet to allow the space within which civil society can mobilise effectively against the epidemic. The experience of a third country, Brazil, could have special relevance. The Brazilian response—which has been acclaimed for its success, especially in provision of treatment—arose from the governmental sector and from the active participation of civil society, including organisations of people living with HIV/AIDS.3Galvão J. AIDS no Brasil: A agenda de construção de uma epidemia. Rio de Janeiro: Associação Brasileira Interdisciplinar de AIDS/Editora 34, 2000.Google Scholar But the denial of the rights of such people also has a place within the history of the epidemic in Brazil—that which Herbert Daniel, a Brazilian activist, once denounced as “civil death”.4Daniel H Vida antes da morte/Life before death. Tipografia Jaboti, Rio de Janeiro1989Google Scholar It is worth remembering that when the first cases of AIDS arose in Brazil, in the 1980s, the country was emerging from a military dictatorship of nearly 20 years.5Teixeira PR Vitória MAA Barcarolo J The Brazilian experience in providing universal access to antiretroviral therapy.in: Moatti J-P Coriat B Souteyrand Y Barnett T Dumoulin J Flori Y-A Economics of AIDS and access to HIV/ AIDS care in developing countries: issues and challenges. ANRS, Paris2003: 69-88Google Scholar In this sense, the process of democratisation of the country was accompanied by the construction of a national response to AIDS. Observing the South African and Chinese responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, as well as the Brazilian process of achieving a national response to AIDS, it is evident that the struggle for health rights can be transformative and that the participation of civil society and the respect for human rights are crucial elements in the fight against AIDS.