Brazil Condemns Religious Thought That Prevents AIDS Treatment

Representatives of 19 Latin American countries gathered in Brazil since Thursday, January 12, began discussions on how to achieve universal access to anti-retroviral drugs for treating AIDS, and remedies for dealing with and preventing other sexually transmitted diseases (STD).

The meeting, the first of its kind in the region, will draw up a list of proposals to be presented to the United Nations in May.

According to World Health Organization data, at least 300,000 people in Latin America and the Caribbean are using anti-retrovirals to treat AIDS, with 170,000 of them in Brazil

Pedro Chequer, the head of Brazil’s AIDS/STD Program (Programa Nacional de DST – Doenças sexualmente transmissí­veis – /AIDS) declared that he hopes the continent can reach a consensus.

He also called on participants to reject non-scientific approaches, such as the refusal to use condoms for religious, philosophical or cultural reasons.

As for the Brazilian AIDS/STD Program, Chequer reported that the average cost of treatment continues to rise sharply, going from US$ 1,350 per patient in 2003, to US$ 2,500 in 2005.

Universal Access to Drugs

The meeting will proceed through Saturday, January 14, at the Naoum Plaza Hotel in Brasí­lia. Among other points, work groups are discussing suggestions to ensure universal access to anti-AIDS medicines by 2010.

The countries were divided into four groups: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela (Group 1); Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay (Group 2); Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama (Group 3); and Mexico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic (Group 4).

Agência Brasil

Tags:

You May Also Like

Leaders of Police Rebellion in Brazil Use Women and Kids as Human Shields

Human shields: the same tactic used by Saddam Hussein during the US invasion of ...

In Brazil All Eyes Are on the Central Bank, Hoping for Interest Cuts

Latin American markets drifted lower, amid a dearth of catalysts, and as global equities ...

Brazil Sees US as Biggest Military Threat While Pentagon Increases Presence in Paraguay

On May 27, the Paraguayan National Congress signed an agreement with the United States ...

Brazil Lauches New and Improved Rocket

Brazil’s first probe missile prototype, the VBS-30, was launched this Saturday, Otober 23, at the ...

Brazil’s Petrobras Hires New York’s Big Tobacco PR Firm for International Push

As it expands a controversial deep sea offshore sub-salt drilling program, Petrobras, Brazil’s state-controlled ...

Brazil’s TAM Airline Has Now a 116-Aircraft Fleet

Brazilian Airline TAM has added four new Airbus planes to its fleet: two A319's ...

In Brazil 95% Oppose Black Bloc’s Action

The Brazilian middle and high classes seem to be the most supportive of the ...

Arabists Gather in Rio to Promote Arab Studies in Brazil

Brazilian and Portuguese scholars of Arabic language and literature and Arab history are getting ...

Europe Getting 190 Tons of Brazilian Berries

Farmers from the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul who are members ...

Brazil Ready to Produce Bird Flu Vaccine in Two Months

Isaias Raw, president of the Butantã Institute, in São Paulo, informed that within 60 ...