Brazilian policy for the distribution and production of antiretroviral drugs: a privilege or a right?

This article focuses on the Brazilian National AIDS Program and its policy of distributing and producing antiretroviral drugs, emphasizing links between local decisions and global HIV/AIDS policies. Emphasizing recent developments in the Brazilian and international scenario with regard to access to treatment for people with HIV/AIDS, the article highlights the participation by the pharmaceutical industry, governments, civil society, and UN agencies in establishing responses to the pandemic. The author concludes by identifying transnational activism as a key response to both the power of pharmaceutical corporations and the law of the market (including patent laws), thus fostering global solidarity for people with HIV/AIDS.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; Drugs; Patents