Starting with a brief contextual analysis of the social scenario in which the AIDS epidemic is occurring in Brazil, the article focuses on the formation of the country's first Nongovernmental Organizations in the struggle against AIDS. There are peculiarities to AIDS NGOs to the extent that they display an ambivalence between the characteristics of a professional institution and a lobbying group, apart from the fact that dealing with sexuality and death breaks down the line between the public and the private spheres. The case in point is the Grupo Pela Vidda (For Life Group) in Rio de Janeiro, which seeks to represent the enhancement of a group of individuals and the principle of universality. The study supports the hypothesis that AIDS NGOs renew ties of social solidarity through the relationships established between various researchers involved in this sector and other NGOs with governmental spheres.
AIDS; Non Governmental Organizations; HIV Seropositive