International
AIDS Society meeting opens with praise for Brazil's AIDS
efforts

At the start of the International AIDS Society-sponsored conference in Rio de Janeiro this week, organizers praised Brazil's leadership in the fight against AIDS. "Brazil, by maintaining an aggressive and comprehensive approach to HIV prevention, treatment, and support, is really a leader for our global effort," said IAS president Helene Gayle. The country not only provides antiretroviral drugs free of charge to anyone who needs them but also aggressively distributes millions of condoms and talks frankly about sex.

"We still confront an enormous challenge to provide treatment and medicines free of charge," said Pedro Chequer, who runs Brazil's anti-AIDS program. "We once again confirm the promise of Brazil to help developing countries confront this epidemic."

Brazil's example has created hope among developing countries like Botswana, where 350,000 people out of a 1.8 million population are HIV-positive. "The rather more important message I am bringing to this conference is that, after an admittedly late start, in recent years my country has been dealing proactively with the AIDS challenge," said Botswana's president Festus G. Mogae. "This has called for a significant behavioral change within our society as well as the introduction of proactive programs of prevention and treatment on the part of the government and others."

But the four-day conference, which will see 2,060 papers presented from research in 114 different countries, is not without controversy. Some 50 AIDS activists from the group Pela Vidda donned clown noses in a silent protest against a recent deal between Brazil's health ministry and the U.S.-based drugmaker Abbott Laboratories, which agreed to steeply discount its anti-HIV drug Kaletra after Brazil threatened to break the patent. The activists expressed concern that the arrangement would not guarantee that free medicines would be available through the government program long-term. Brazilian health minister Jose Saraiva Felipe denied that the deal had been finalized and says negotiations have been restarted. (AP)