CARTA DE ITPC FRENTE A LA RESPUESTA EN VIH/sida EN BRASIL

 

 

 

Dear Dr. Alexandre Padilha,

 

We are writing to you to express our deep concern about the future of the Brazilian response 

on HIV and AIDS.

 

Over the years, Brazil successfully developed one of the strongest HIV responses in the 

world, which has served as a model for countries across the globe. This was largely as a 

result of joint work with civil society and key affected populations on HIV prevention, 

treatment, care and support. However, over the past several months our attention has been 

drawn to trends of growing concern about the response in Brazil. This has been

characterized by a lack of dialogue and unilateral decision-making that has repeatedly 

revealed the public health authorities’ discrimination against key affected populations such 

as men who have sex with men, sex workers and people who inject drugs, as well as people 

living with HIV and those who seek to defend human rights. We fear this implies a lack of 

commitment to the mandate to address the needs of all people affected by HIV and put an 

end to the epidemic. Considering these already concerning precedents, the removal of Dr. 

Greco has caused even greater alarm, as it suggests that there is an ongoing process to 

erase the human rights-based approach that the National AIDS Program has promoted over 

the years and which has been one of the most successful cornerstones of the HIV response 

in Brazil, and indeed a model for the rest of the world. 

We urge you, as the Minister of Health of Brazil to publicly commit to furthering this 

successful human rights approach to the HIV response at national and international levels,

inclusive of civil society and in particular key affected populations, and reaffirm that HIV 

policy and implementation in Brazil will not be guided or influenced by any personal values 

or fundamentalist ideals. We believe that this is necessary if you are to continue 

strengthening, instead of undermining, the HIV response in Brazil and to continue to set a 

positive model for Human Rights and HIV globally.

 

We stand in solidarity with others such as the NGO Delegation to the UNAIDS PCB in 

expressing our extreme concern at the current situation of regressive policy on HIV in Brazil, 

and we encourage you to consider our concern and ensure that it is addressed in the 

Ministry’s future decisions and operations.

 

We submit this letter on behalf of the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC), 

a global network of people living with HIV and their supporters working to secure access to 

treatment for all those in need. 

 

Yours,

Christine)Stegling

Executive)Director

International)Treatment)Preparedness)Coalition)(ITPC)