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The objective of this paper was to present the trends in the AIDS epidemic in the population groups at highest risk in Brazil. Discriminant analysis was used to reclassify cases with unknown risk into one of the three groups: IDU (injecting drug users), MSM (men who have sex with men), and heterosexuals. AIDS incidence rates by gender and exposure category were estimated for the period 1980-2004. In 1980-1988, 63.6% of AIDS cases were homosexual or bisexual males and 10% were females. Since 1988, there has been a decrease in the proportion of MSM and an increase in the other categories. Despite the incidence trends observed by exposure category, when the incidence rates were compared, the risk was much higher among MSM as compared to heterosexuals. Analysis of the AIDS epidemic dynamics in Brazil emphasizes the importance of MSM and male IDU as higher-risk groups.

This paper analyzes the understanding among female community health workers in the Family Health Program in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, concerning the notion of safe sex negotiation promoted by the Brazilian government in AIDS prevention campaigns targeting women. The paper is based on empirical data gathered in 2003. The study focused on TV advertisements used in campaigns by the Brazilian Ministry of Health from 1994 to 2000. The analytical approach was informed by feminist and cultural studies, taken from a post-structuralist and Foucauldian perspective. The research aimed to produce knowledge to support a critical reading of such education for HIV/AIDS prevention, especially concerning gender relations. The paper argues that knowledge and practices permeating the "safe sex negotiation" discourse incorporate, reproduce, and/or transmit hegemonic representations of masculinity and femininity and that these representations differentiate and highlight hierarchical positions of women in relation to men and/or women in relation to other women, producing and/or reinforcing prejudices and inequalities.

This paper analyzes the decision on whether to include deaths of HIV+ pregnant women in the classification of maternal mortality. The study focuses on deaths of childbearing-age women in S o Paulo in 1998, investigated by the State's Central Committee on Maternal Mortality (CCMM). Working from a social constructionist perspective, the research was based on documental analysis and interviews with the president of the CCMM and members of one regional committee. The analysis focused on the selection, investigation, and classification of maternal death, with special attention to the negotiation among various actors involved in the classificatory procedures. The data suggest that in the deaths of HIV+ women, other factors are present including the precedence of HIV status over maternal death and the moral and symbolic aspects of AIDS. The results suggest that improving data through a better understanding of decisions to include or exclude cases is only one side of the issue; it is also important to improve quality of care in pregnancy and childbirth in order to prevent maternal death.

This paper focuses on cognitive aspects related to HIV/AIDS by presenting distinct subgroups of the Brazilian population. Four subgroups were created according to their different levels of knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS and risk perception: subgroup 1 (no awareness and no risk perception); subgroup 2 (no awareness, with some risk perception); subgroup 3 (some awareness and no risk perception); and subgroup 4 (some awareness and some risk perception). The data come from the National Survey on Sexual Behavior and HIV/AIDS Risk Perception in the Brazilian Population, conducted by CEBRAP (the Brazilian Analysis and Planning Agency) together with the Ministry of Health, in 1998. The study highlights that in 1998, slightly over half of the Brazilian population were minimally aware of HIV transmission processes. Analysis of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics associated with protective behavior against HIV/AIDS showed that approximately 23% of the study population belonged to subgroup 1 - with no awareness and no risk perception - and were thus highly vulnerable to infection.

This paper explores the factors associated with reproductive choices by HIV-positive pregnant women in two settings in Brazil, and particularly how health care providers and the local medical culture can affect these choices. Requesting and submitting to postpartum sterilization provide the focus of the analysis. The data come from a study conducted in prenatal care services in two cities, São Paulo and Porto Alegre. We employed two data collection strategies: collection of information from 427 patient records for HIV-positive women who had received prenatal care, and in-depth interviews with 60 women. While most women in both cities requested tubal ligation after delivery, a much higher proportion of women in Sao Paulo were actually sterilized, as compared to a tiny proportion of women in Porto Alegre. The local medical culture regarding sterilization and organization of prenatal care emerged as important factors for understanding the differences between the two cities.

This paper examines the politics and practices of drug evaluation in Brazil. It traces the history of AIDS activists' influence on the organization of modern clinical trials and their scientific rationale. Using the Merck indinavir trial as a case study, the authors discuss how organized civil society has developed strategies to intervene in the course of drug evaluation trials, shaping them according to its own interests. Adopting translation sociology as the theoretical framework, the paper describes and analyzes the strategies used by activists from "Grupo PelaVidda/SP" (an AIDS NGO) to build a consensus concerning indinavir monotherapy's lack of efficacy. The study considers the several regulatory forums involved in dealing with the controversy during the trial period.

This paper discusses methodologies for analyzing relations between social inequalities, marginalization, prejudice, and vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, highlighting current difficulties and alternative research strategies. It also reviews the international and Brazilian literature, emphasizing: economic and macropolitical dimensions in the spread of HIV/AIDS; the role of drug policies and consumption; gender inequalities and prejudice; racial/ethnic inequalities and prejudice; and interaction with other STIs and their relationship to poverty; HIV/AIDS and health care standards, especially access to antiretroviral therapy; and human rights violations. Despite current methodological dilemmas in analyzing relations between psychosocial, cultural, and sociopolitical variables and vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and the limited Brazil literature, such themes merit further investigation, addressing Brazilian social and cultural specificities and profiting from recently developed research strategies.

This paper analyzed the genesis of the PrEP1519 study and feasibility conditions for its construction. A qualitative-approach study was conducted using the Bourdieusian sociology framework to reconstruct the dynamics of the social environment where PrEP1519 emerged during 2015-2018. A document analysis and ten in-depth interviews were carried out to analyze the trajectory of the project. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) was introduced in Brazil as a public policy in 2017. The lack of scientific evidence available among the adolescent population led to the development of a demonstrative cohort study, associated with an intervention, aimed at combining the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections at three sites in Brazil. PrEP1519 sought to generate evidence for global use and to help the Brazilian Ministry of Health apply PrEP among adolescents. The articulation of bureaucratic, scientific, and activist stakeholders enabled this study. The feasibility conditions for developing PrEP1519 included a favorable relationship of national organizations with international organizations, the favorable approach that public administrators had at the time towards new technologies and prevention strategies, the researchers’ previous experience in studies with the target population or with PrEP, articulation efforts with social movements, civil society organizations, and other public agencies, and the integration between scientific institutions, which allowed using international resources and developing a response to the problem. Completing this study at a moment when conservatism advances in Brazil demands that the scientific community and activists closely monitor and take stances on PrEP to ensure its availability for adolescents as a public policy.

This forum on the challenges of preventing STD/AIDS in Portuguese-speaking African countries contains three articles and a postscript. The first paper reviews academic production on the topic from the fields of the social sciences and of health, with special attention on how local cultural and socioeconomic factors impact the dynamics of the epidemic. Based on an ethnographic study of a region in southern Mozambique, the second paper analyzes the notion of 'tradition' within the context of Mozambique and how it affects perceptions of the local population's vulnerability to STD/AIDS. The third and final article discusses common ground and differences between government and civil society in gender approaches by community HIV/AIDS projects in Mozambique. Their observations suggest that important mistakes have been made in STD/AIDS prevention discourse and initiatives in African countries because the unique features of local development models and cultural systems have not been taken into account.Esta introdução apresenta o Fórum sobre os desafios da prevenção às DST/AIDS em países africanos de língua oficial portuguesa, constituído por três artigos e um posfácio. O primeiro trabalho traz uma revisão da produção acadêmica no campo das ciências sociais e da saúde sobre o tema, focalizando as implicações dos fatores culturais e sócio-econômicos locais para a dinâmica da epidemia. A partir de um estudo etnográfico numa região do sul de Moçambique, o segundo texto analisa a noção de "tradição" no contexto moçambicano e suas conseqüências para a percepção da vulnerabilidade às DST/AIDS da população local. O terceiro artigo discute pontos de aproximação e de desencontro entre o governo e a sociedade civil na abordagem de gênero de projetos comunitários de enfrentamento do HIV/AIDS em Moçambique. As reflexões revelam que os discursos e ações de prevenção das DST/AIDS em países africanos apresentam equívocos importantes por não considerarem as particularidades dos modelos de desenvolvimento e os sistemas culturais locais.

Este artigo examina a política e a prática da avaliação de medicamentos no Brasil, buscando identificar a influência que a sociedade civil organizada, no caso, os ativistas da AIDS, exerce na construção da racionalidade científica de ensaios clínicos modernos. Baseando-se na experiência do ensaio clínico do Indinavir/Merck (Protocolo 028), como estudo de caso, discute-se de que maneira grupos sociais organizados desenvolvem estratégias para interferir na condução de estudos de avaliação de medicamentos, adequando-os aos seus próprios interesses. Tendo como referência teórica a sociologia da tradução, este artigo descreve e analisa as estratégias utilizadas pelos ativistas do grupo PelaVidda/SP (ONG/AIDS) no processo de construção do consenso sobre ineficácia da monoterapia com o Indinavir junto aos diversos fóruns regulatórios envolvidos na solução da controvérsia gerada durante o período de execução do referido estudo.This paper examines the politics and practices of drug evaluation in Brazil. It traces the history of AIDS activists' influence on the organization of modern clinical trials and their scientific rationale. Using the Merck indinavir trial as a case study, the authors discuss how organized civil society has developed strategies to intervene in the course of drug evaluation trials, shaping them according to its own interests. Adopting translation sociology as the theoretical framework, the paper describes and analyzes the strategies used by activists from "Grupo PelaVidda/SP" (an AIDS NGO) to build a consensus concerning indinavir monotherapy's lack of efficacy. The study considers the several regulatory forums involved in dealing with the controversy during the trial period.

A review was carried out of papers published between 1996 and 2006, documenting the introduction of highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) in Brazil. Papers indexed in the MEDLINE and SciELO databases were retrieved using different combinations of keywords related to the management and care of AIDS in the post-HAART era: opportunistic diseases and co-infections, adherence to therapy, survival in the pre- and post-HAART eras, adverse events and side-effects, emergence and possible transmission of resistant viral strains, metabolic and cardiovascular disorders, and issues related to access to care and equity. The review documents the dramatic changes in HIV/AIDS disease progression in the post-HAART era, including an increase in survival and quality of life and a pronounced decrease in the episodes of opportunistic diseases. Notwithstanding such major achievements, new challenges have emerged, including slow evolving co-infections (such as hepatitis C, metabolic and cardiovascular disorders), the emergence of viral resistance, with consequences at the individual level (virological failure) and the community level (primary/secondary resistance at the population level), and impacts on the cost of new therapeutic regimens.Procedeu-se a uma revisão abrangente de artigos publicados entre 1996-2006, período posterior à introdução da terapia anti-retroviral de alta potência (HAART) no Brasil. Foram revisados artigos disponíveis nas bases de dados MEDLINE e SciELO, a partir de combinações de palavras-chave que contemplam os principais temas na área do tratamento e manejo da AIDS na era pós-HAART: doenças oportunistas e co-infecções, aderência à terapia, sobrevida pré e pós-HAART, eventos adversos e efeitos colaterais, emergência e eventual transmissão de cepas virais resistentes e complicações cardiovasculares e metabólicas, além de questões relativas ao acesso e à eqüidade. Em suma, observa-se uma transformação profunda no campo da AIDS no período pós-HAART, com aumento dramático da sobrevida e da qualidade de vida, e redução expressiva dos episódios de doenças oportunistas. Por outro lado, novas questões se colocam, como a relevância das co-infecções de evolução lenta, como a hepatite C, os distúrbios metabólicos e cardiovasculares, e o desafio posto pela emergência de cepas resistentes, com repercussões individuais (falha virológica) e coletivas (resistência primária e secundária em nível da comunidade) e, conseqüente, aumento de custos da terapia.

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This paper offers a critical overview of social science research presented at the 2014 International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia. In an era of major biomedical advance, the political nature of HIV remains of fundamental importance. No new development can be rolled out successfully without taking into account its social and political context, and consequences. Four main themes ran throughout the conference track on social and political research, law, policy and human rights: first, the importance of work with socially vulnerable groups, now increasingly referred to as "key populations"; second, continued recognition that actions and programs need to be tailored locally and contextually; third, the need for an urgent response to a rapidly growing epidemic of HIV among young people; and fourth, the negative effects of the growing criminalization of minority sexualities and people living with HIV. Lack of stress on human rights and community participation is resulting in poorer policy globally. A new research agenda is needed to respond to these challenges.

O presente trabalho tem por objetivo apresentar as tendências da epidemia de AIDS em grupos populacionais sob maior risco no Brasil. A técnica de análise discriminante foi utilizada para reclassificação dos casos masculinos com categoria de exposição ignorada em um dos três grupos homens que fazem sexo com homens (HSH), usuários de drogas injetáveis (UDI) ou heterossexuais. Foram estimadas as taxas de incidência de AIDS por sexo e categoria de exposição no período 1980-2004. No período 1980-1988, os casos homossexuais ou bissexuais masculinos correspondiam a 63,6% dos casos, e a proporção de mulheres era de 10%. Posteriormente, há um decréscimo importante no papel desempenhado pelos HSH e ocorre um acréscimo nas outras categorias de exposição. Apesar das tendências de decréscimo para as incidências de casos HSH e UDI e acréscimo entre os heterossexuais masculinos e as mulheres, quando as taxas de incidência são comparadas o risco é maior entre os HSH e UDI. A análise da dinâmica da epidemia de AIDS no Brasil mostra a importância dos grupos HSH e UDI masculinos enquanto grupos de risco diferenciado.The objective of this paper was to present the trends in the AIDS epidemic in the population groups at highest risk in Brazil. Discriminant analysis was used to reclassify cases with unknown risk into one of the three groups: IDU (injecting drug users), MSM (men who have sex with men), and heterosexuals. AIDS incidence rates by gender and exposure category were estimated for the period 1980-2004. In 1980-1988, 63.6% of AIDS cases were homosexual or bisexual males and 10% were females. Since 1988, there has been a decrease in the proportion of MSM and an increase in the other categories. Despite the incidence trends observed by exposure category, when the incidence rates were compared, the risk was much higher among MSM as compared to heterosexuals. Analysis of the AIDS epidemic dynamics in Brazil emphasizes the importance of MSM and male IDU as higher-risk groups.

The article presents a review of approaches and methodologies in the evaluation of STD/AIDS prevention programs, searching for theoretical and methodological support for the institutionalization of evaluation and decision-making. The review included the MEDLINE, SciELO, and ISI Web of Science databases and other sources like textbooks and congress abstracts from 1990 to 2005, with the key words: "evaluation", "programs", "prevention", "STD/AIDS", and similar terms. The papers showed a predominance of quantitative outcome or impact evaluative studies with an experimental or quasi-experimental design. The main use of evaluation is accountability, although knowledge output and program improvement were also identified in the studies. Only a few evaluative studies contemplate process evaluation and its relationship to the contexts. The review aimed to contribute to the debate on STD/AIDS, which requires more effective, consistent, and sustainable decisions in the field of prevention.O artigo apresenta uma revisão de abordagens e metodologias sobre avaliação de programas de prevenção de DST/AIDS, buscando um aporte teórico-metodológico que subsidie a institucionalização da avaliação e a tomada de decisão. A revisão foi realizada nas bases de dados do MEDLINE, SciELO, ISI Web of Science e outras fontes, tais como livros, textos e resumos apresentados em congressos, no período de 1990 a 2005, das palavras-chave: "avaliação", "programas", "prevenção", "DST/AIDS" e termos similares. Nos artigos levantados há uma predominância de estudos avaliativos quantitativos de resultado ou de impacto, do tipo experimental ou quase-experimental. O principal uso da avaliação é o da prestação de contas, embora a produção do conhecimento e a melhoria do programa possam ser identificados nos estudos examinados. Poucos são os estudos avaliativos que contemplam a avaliação de processo e discutem a sua relação com os contextos. Pretendeu-se, com essa revisão, contribuir na tematização e aprofundamento de um debate relevante no cenário das políticas de enfrentamento das DST/AIDS, que requer respostas mais efetivas, consistentes e sustentáveis no campo da prevenção.

This paper presents AIDS incidence and mortality among injecting drug users (IDUs) reached by the AjUDE-Brasil II Project. From a cross-sectional survey, 478 IDUs were interviewed in three Brazilian cities: Porto Alegre, São José do Rio Preto, and Itajaí. The cohort was followed up in the Brazilian surveillance database for AIDS and mortality during 2000 and 2001. AIDS incidence was 1.1 cases per 100 person-years, and the mortality rate was 2.8 deaths per 100 person-years. AIDS cases only occurred in IDUs who reported ever having shared injecting equipment. Female gender (RR = 5.30), homelessness (RR = 6.16), and report of previous sexual relations with same-sex partners (RR = 6.21) were associated with AIDS. Deaths occurred only among males. Homelessness (RR = 3.00), lack of income (RR = 2.65), HIV seropositive status (RR = 4.52), and no history of incarceration (RR = 3.71) were also associated with death. These findings support evidence that gender and socioeconomic conditions are both determinants of morbidity and mortality in Brazilian IDUs.

O artigo trata da decisão de inclusão ou exclusão de óbitos de mulheres em idade fértil, com HIV/AIDS, nas estatísticas de mortalidade materna. Foram analisados os casos referentes ao ano de 1998, investigados pelo Comitê Central de Mortalidade Materna do Município de São Paulo (CCMM-MSP). Tendo como enquadre a abordagem construcionista, a pesquisa utilizou como fonte de dados, relatórios e entrevistas com o presidente do CCMM-MSP e membros de um comitê municipal regional. Buscou-se apontar aspectos presentes na seleção, investigação e classificação final das mortes maternas investigadas, focalizando os espaços de negociação entre os vários atores envolvidos no processo. A análise sugere que, quando se trata de óbitos de mulheres com HIV/AIDS, interferem ainda outros fatores como a precedência do status soropositivo para o HIV e os aspectos morais e simbólicos da AIDS. Concluiu-se que o aperfeiçoamento das estatísticas por meio da melhor compreensão da decisão de inclusão ou exclusão de casos é apenas um lado da questão; faz-se necessário também, melhorar a qualidade da assistência ao ciclo gravídico-puerperal para evitar a ocorrência dessas mortes.This paper analyzes the decision on whether to include deaths of HIV+ pregnant women in the classification of maternal mortality. The study focuses on deaths of childbearing-age women in São Paulo in 1998, investigated by the State's Central Committee on Maternal Mortality (CCMM). Working from a social constructionist perspective, the research was based on documental analysis and interviews with the president of the CCMM and members of one regional committee. The analysis focused on the selection, investigation, and classification of maternal death, with special attention to the negotiation among various actors involved in the classificatory procedures. The data suggest that in the deaths of HIV+ women, other factors are present including the precedence of HIV status over maternal death and the moral and symbolic aspects of AIDS. The results suggest that improving data through a better understanding of decisions to include or exclude cases is only one side of the issue; it is also important to improve quality of care in pregnancy and childbirth in order to prevent maternal death.

This paper presents an overview of the development of HIV/AIDS in South Africa, taking into consideration the social context and analyzing the factors most likely to have influenced its spread as well as the societal response to it. The authors argue that macro factors such as social and political structures, in addition to behavioral ones, have combined to shape the course of the epidemic. Since various factors linked to social inequalities have combined to shape the pattern and growth of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa, it is inappropriate to focus on only one dimension in an attempt to combat the epidemic. Following the psycho-socio- environmental model, all potential contributing elements need to be addressed simultaneously. This calls for a true interdisciplinary and multi-sectorial approach. It also requires great commitment as well as strong political will.O artigo apresenta um panorama da epidemia de HIV/AIDS na África do Sul, levando em conta o contexto social e analisando os principais fatores que influenciaram sua disseminação, assim como, a resposta pela sociedade sul-africana. As autoras argumentam que fatores macro, tais como estruturas sociais e políticas, além de fatores comportamentais, agiram em conjunto para configurar o curso da epidemia. Uma vez que vários fatores, associados a desigualdades sociais, influenciaram o padrão e o crescimento da epidemia do HIV/AIDS na África do Sul, é inapropriado focalizar apenas uma dimensão da epidemia na tentativa de combatê-la. Todos os elementos que possam influenciar o curso da epidemia devem ser abordados simultaneamente, de acordo com o modelo psico-sócio-ambiental. Tal abordagem deve ser verdadeiramente interdisciplinar e multi-setorial, o que também requer grande compromisso e vontade política.

The number of HIV-infected people is an important measure of the magnitude of the AIDS epidemic in Brazil and allows for comparison with epidemic patterns in other countries. This quantity can be estimated from the number of reported AIDS cases, which in turn needs to be corrected for the distribution of reporting delays and under-recording of cases. These distributions are unknown and must also be estimated from the recorded dates, which were missed to the Brazilian National AIDS registry. This paper estimates the number of AIDS cases diagnosed by imputing the lost information based on an estimate of the pattern in registration delay until 1996. We first fitted a non-stationary bivariate Poisson regression model to estimate the pattern in reporting delay. In the subsequent steps these models were applied to impute new data, thus replacing the missing information, and to estimate the magnitude of the AIDS epidemic in the country. Model estimates ranged from 36,000 to 50,000 AIDS cases diagnosed in Brazil and still unreported. Therefore, the epidemic was 20 to 30% greater than known from the available information as of February 1999. To be useful to health policy-makers, the surveillance system based on officially reported AIDS cases must be continuously improved.O número de pessoas infectadas pelo HIV é uma importante medida da magnitude da epidemia de AIDS no Brasil, e permite a comparação com o padrão epidêmico de outros países. Essa quantidade pode ser estimada a partir do número de casos notificados de AIDS, que necessita ser corrigido pela distribuição do atraso da notificação e pelas sub-notificações. Essas distribuições são desconhecidas e devem ser estimadas a partir das datas registradas, que no Brasil foram perdidas. Neste artigo, estima-se o número de diagnósticos de AIDS, imputando as informações perdidas a partir da estimativa do padrão de atraso até 1996. Primeiro, ajustou-se uma regressão de Poisson bivariada para estimar o padrão de atraso, fazendo uma suposição de um atraso não estacionário. Nas etapas seguintes, estes modelos foram aplicados para imputar novos dados substituindo as informações perdidas e para estimar a magnitude da epidemia de AIDS no país. Os modelos estimaram que havia entre 36 mil e 50 mil casos de AIDS já diagnosticados e ainda não notificados. A epidemia era, portanto, de 20 a 30% maior do que a conhecida pelas informações disponíveis em fevereiro de 1999. Para ser útil aos que planejam as políticas de saúde, o sistema de vigilância que se baseia nas notificações oficiais de AIDS deve ser continuamente melhorado.

This paper presents an overview of the development of HIV/AIDS in South Africa, taking into consideration the social context and analyzing the factors most likely to have influenced its spread as well as the societal response to it. The authors argue that macro factors such as social and political structures, in addition to behavioral ones, have combined to shape the course of the epidemic. Since various factors linked to social inequalities have combined to shape the pattern and growth of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa, it is inappropriate to focus on only one dimension in an attempt to combat the epidemic. Following the psycho-socio- environmental model, all potential contributing elements need to be addressed simultaneously. This calls for a true interdisciplinary and multi-sectorial approach. It also requires great commitment as well as strong political will.

The number of HIV-infected people is an important measure of the magnitude of the AIDS epidemic in Brazil and allows for comparison with epidemic patterns in other countries. This quantity can be estimated from the number of reported AIDS cases, which in turn needs to be corrected for the distribution of reporting delays and under-recording of cases. These distributions are unknown and must also be estimated from the recorded dates, which were missed to the Brazilian National AIDS registry. This paper estimates the number of AIDS cases diagnosed by imputing the lost information based on an estimate of the pattern in registration delay until 1996. We first fitted a non-stationary bivariate Poisson regression model to estimate the pattern in reporting delay. In the subsequent steps these models were applied to impute new data, thus replacing the missing information, and to estimate the magnitude of the AIDS epidemic in the country. Model estimates ranged from 36,000 to 50,000 AIDS cases diagnosed in Brazil and still unreported. Therefore, the epidemic was 20 to 30% greater than known from the available information as of February 1999. To be useful to health policy-makers, the surveillance system based on officially reported AIDS cases must be continuously improved.

Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has led to a substantial increase in the survival of people living with AIDS, despite heterogeneities among individuals from different socioeconomic strata. The present paper analyzes AIDS deaths in Brazil during a period in which HAART became a key treatment regimen, exploring the hypothesis that "race or color" defines one dimension of socioeconomic inequality in Brazil. AIDS mortality, stratified by gender and "race or color", was calculated using data from the National Mortality System. The rates were highest among individuals classified as "black" and lower among those classified as "mixed-race", with a continuous increase among the later from 1999 to 2004 for men and women. Among individuals classified as "white", mortality rates remained stable among men, but not women. Median age at death among "mixed-race" individuals was lower for both men and women. Differential trends according to gender and "race or color" were highlighted by the present study, indicating the pressing need to further explore the underlying factors that might explain different mortality rates in a context of universal access.A terapia anti-retroviral de alta potência (HAART) tem determinando substancial aumento da sobrevida de pessoas vivendo com AIDS, ainda que de forma heterogênea entre populações de diferentes condições sociais e econômicas. Este estudo analisa a mortalidade por AIDS no Brasil, num período em que a HAART se consolida como estratégia terapêutica, explorando a hipótese da variável "raça/cor" constituir uma das vertentes das desigualdades sociais e econômicas no Brasil. Foram calculadas taxas de mortalidade por AIDS, por sexo e "raça/cor", utilizando-se dados do Sistema de Informações sobre Mortalidade. As maiores taxas de mortalidade foram observadas nos indivíduos de "raça/cor" preta e as menores naqueles de "raça/cor" parda, ainda que com crescimento persistente no período observado (1999-2004), em ambos os sexos. Entre os indivíduos de "raça/cor" branca, observou-se estabilidade na taxa de mortalidade apenas entre os homens. A idade mediana dos óbitos na "raça/cor" parda foi invariavelmente mais baixa, para ambos os sexos. Tendências diferenciadas por sexo e "raça/cor" foram observadas, exigindo estudos adicionais que explorem os fatores que determinam diferenciais nas taxas de mortalidade num contexto de acesso universal.

The governments of numerous low- and middle-income countries are currently instituting rules that strengthen changes in domestic intellectual property legislation, often made to conform to the mandates of "free" trade agreements signed with the United States. These measures frequently include intellectual property provisions that extend beyond the patent law standards agreed upon in recent World Trade Organization negotiations, which promised to balance the exigencies of public health and patent holders. In this paper, we analyze the concern that this augmentation of patent law standards will curtail access to essential medicines, particularly as they relate to the AIDS pandemic. We critically examine the potential threats posed by trade agreements vis-à-vis efforts to provide universal access to antiretroviral medications and contend that the conditioning of economic development upon the strengthening of intellectual property law demands careful attention when public health is at stake. Finally, we examine advocacy successes in challenging patent law and conclude that greater advocacy and policy strategies are needed to ensure the protection of global health in trade negotiations.Actualmente diversos países de renta media y baja están creando leyes de propiedad intelectual más rígidas, muchas veces para adaptarse a las exigencias de los tratados de "libre" comercio con los Estados Unidos. Tales medidas suelen incluir dispositivos que transcienden las normas sobre patentes negociadas recientemente en la Organización Mundial del Comercio, que prometían equilibrar las exigencias de la salud pública y las de patentes. Este artículo analiza la preocupación de que este endurecimiento restrinja el acceso a medicamentos esenciales, en particular en el contexto de la pandemia de SIDA. El artículo examina las amenazas potenciales creadas por los tratados comerciales contra los esfuerzos dirigidos para el acceso universal a los antirretrovirales, manteniendo que condicionar el desarrollo económico al endurecimiento de la legislación requiere una atención escrupulosamente justificada cuando la salud pública está en juego. Finalmente, se examinan algunos éxitos obtenidos por grupos de presión, concluyéndose que son necesarias más estrategias políticas y de presión para garantizar la protección de la salud mundial en las negociaciones sobre tratados internacionales de comercio.

Este artigo busca identificar os fatores que interferem nas escolhas reprodutivas de gestantes HIV positivo focalizando, em particular, o papel desempenhado pelos serviços de saúde e pela cultura médica nessas escolhas. O desejo e a realização de laqueadura tubária pós-parto constituem os eventos reprodutivos tomados como questões de análise. Os dados apresentados resultam de uma pesquisa desenvolvida em serviços de pré-natal nas cidades de São Paulo e Porto Alegre, que utilizou um desenho que combinou duas estratégias metodológicas: quantitativa, a partir de dados coletados em 427 prontuários clínicos, e qualitativa, por meio da observação etnográfica e realização de sessenta entrevistas em profundidade. A grande maioria de mulheres nas duas cidades manifestou o desejo de realizar a esterilização depois do parto. Entretanto, uma proporção muito maior de mulheres em São Paulo atingiu sua meta comparada a uma pequena proporção em Porto Alegre. A cultura médica local com relação à laqueadura, aliada à organização da prática de assistência ao pré-natal e parto, mostrou-se fator fundamental para compreender as diferenças encontrada nas duas cidades.This paper explores the factors associated with reproductive choices by HIV-positive pregnant women in two settings in Brazil, and particularly how health care providers and the local medical culture can affect these choices. Requesting and submitting to postpartum sterilization provide the focus of the analysis. The data come from a study conducted in prenatal care services in two cities, São Paulo and Porto Alegre. We employed two data collection strategies: collection of information from 427 patient records for HIV-positive women who had received prenatal care, and in-depth interviews with 60 women. While most women in both cities requested tubal ligation after delivery, a much higher proportion of women in Sao Paulo were actually sterilized, as compared to a tiny proportion of women in Porto Alegre. The local medical culture regarding sterilization and organization of prenatal care emerged as important factors for understanding the differences between the two cities.

Com o intuito de abordar os aspectos cognitivos sobre o HIV/AIDS, o presente trabalho apresenta subgrupos populacionais distintos, segundo nível de conhecimento em relação ao HIV/AIDS e percepção de risco. Foram gerados quatro subgrupos: grupo 1 (sem informação e sem percepção de risco), grupo 2 (sem informação e com alguma percepção de risco), grupo 3 (com informação e sem percepção de risco) e grupo 4 (com informação e alguma percepção de risco). Os dados utilizados são referentes à Pesquisa Nacional sobre Comportamento Sexual da População Brasileira e Percepções do HIV/AIDS, realizada em 1998 pelo Centro Brasileiro de Análise e Planejamento e Ministério da Saúde. Entre os resultados obtidos no estudo destaca-se o fato de que pouco mais da metade da população brasileira estava minimamente informada a respeito das formas de transmissão do vírus HIV no ano da pesquisa. Observou-se ainda, que aproximadamente 23% da população investigada pertencia ao grupo 1 - sem informação e sem percepção de risco - estando portanto, vulneráveis ao HIV quanto à sua condição de compreender seu próprio risco de exposição à AIDS.This paper focuses on cognitive aspects related to HIV/AIDS by presenting distinct subgroups of the Brazilian population. Four subgroups were created according to their different levels of knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS and risk perception: subgroup 1 (no awareness and no risk perception); subgroup 2 (no awareness, with some risk perception); subgroup 3 (some awareness and no risk perception); and subgroup 4 (some awareness and some risk perception). The data come from the National Survey on Sexual Behavior and HIV/AIDS Risk Perception in the Brazilian Population, conducted by CEBRAP (the Brazilian Analysis and Planning Agency) together with the Ministry of Health, in 1998. The study highlights that in 1998, slightly over half of the Brazilian population were minimally aware of HIV transmission processes. Analysis of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics associated with protective behavior against HIV/AIDS showed that approximately 23% of the study population belonged to subgroup 1 - with no awareness and no risk perception - and were thus highly vulnerable to infection.

Uma pesquisa de comportamento de risco ao HIV foi conduzida entre conscritos (17-20 anos) do Exército em 1998. A amostra (30.318) foi selecionada em três estratos: 1) municípios das regiões Norte e Centro-Oeste (N/CO); 2) municípios da região Sul (S); 3) municípios dos estados do Rio de Janeiro e São Paulo (RJ/SP), estimando-se a prevalência de infecção pelo HIV em cada estrato. O objetivo deste trabalho foi o de apreciar os resultados por nível sócio-econômico (NSE). A análise estatística utilizou um índice de comportamento sexual de risco para HIV e modelos de regressão logística. O estrato N/CO apresentou os piores indicadores - os relativos ao NSE, ao comportamento sexual de risco ou aos problemas relacionados às infecções sexualmente transmissíveis (IST) - assim como a maior proporção de infectados por HIV. Os melhores indicadores foram encontrados no estrato RJ/SP. O Sul mostrou resultados intermediários. O grau de escolaridade teve papel relevante. Os conscritos com primeiro grau incompleto apresentaram o pior índice de comportamento sexual de risco, o qual se mostrou importante preditor dos problemas relacionados às IST, incluindo a infecção por HIV.A study of HIV-related risk behavior was carried out in 1998 among Brazilian military conscripts aged 17-20 years. A sample of 30,318 subjects was selected in three strata, pertaining to counties from: 1) the North and Central-West (N/CW); 2) South (S); and the states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. HIV prevalence rates were estimated in all strata. The objective of this paper was to analyze the results according to differences in socioeconomic status (SES). The statistical analysis used an index of sexual risk behavior and logistic regression models. The N/CW stratum showed the worst indicators for SES, sexual risk behavior, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), as well as the highest HIV seroprevalence rate. The best indicators for all variables were found in the RJ/SP stratum. The South showed intermediate results. Level of schooling also played a relevant role. In all three strata the conscripts with an incomplete high school education displayed the worst sexual risk behavior index, shown to be a relevant predictor of STI-related problems, including HIV infection.

O artigo discute as estratégias metodológicas que vêm sendo usadas na análise das inter-relações entre a vulnerabilidade ao HIV/AIDS e as desigualdades sociais, o preconceito e a marginalização, ressaltando-se as dificuldades metodológicas e as estratégias alternativas de investigação encontradas. Os principais achados da literatura internacional e brasileira foram revistos, enfatizando-se os temas: dimensões econômicas e macropolíticas da difusão do HIV/ AIDS; papel do consumo e da política de drogas; desigualdade e preconceito de gênero; desigualdade e preconceito racial/origem étnica; interação com as demais infecções sexualmente transmissíveis e sua relação com a pobreza; padrões de assistência à saúde e HIV/AIDS, em especial, acesso a anti-retrovirais; e violação dos direitos humanos. Apesar da restrita produção acadêmica brasileira e dos dilemas metodológicos envolvidos no exame das inter-relações entre variáveis psicossociais, culturais, sócio-políticas e vulnerabilidade ao HIV/AIDS, tais temas devem ser investigados em detalhe - considerando especificidades sociais e culturais do Brasil - e beneficiados pelas novas estratégias de pesquisa.This paper discusses methodologies for analyzing relations between social inequalities, marginalization, prejudice, and vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, highlighting current difficulties and alternative research strategies. It also reviews the international and Brazilian literature, emphasizing: economic and macropolitical dimensions in the spread of HIV/AIDS; the role of drug policies and consumption; gender inequalities and prejudice; racial/ethnic inequalities and prejudice; and interaction with other STIs and their relationship to poverty; HIV/AIDS and health care standards, especially access to antiretroviral therapy; and human rights violations. Despite current methodological dilemmas in analyzing relations between psychosocial, cultural, and sociopolitical variables and vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and the limited Brazil literature, such themes merit further investigation, addressing Brazilian social and cultural specificities and profiting from recently developed research strategies.

The number of HIV-infected people is an important measure of the magnitude of the AIDS epidemic in Brazil and allows for comparison with epidemic patterns in other countries. This quantity can be estimated from the number of reported AIDS cases, which in turn needs to be corrected for the distribution of reporting delays and under-recording of cases. These distributions are unknown and must also be estimated from the recorded dates, which were missed to the Brazilian National AIDS registry. This paper estimates the number of AIDS cases diagnosed by imputing the lost information based on an estimate of the pattern in registration delay until 1996. We first fitted a non-stationary bivariate Poisson regression model to estimate the pattern in reporting delay. In the subsequent steps these models were applied to impute new data, thus replacing the missing information, and to estimate the magnitude of the AIDS epidemic in the country. Model estimates ranged from 36,000 to 50,000 AIDS cases diagnosed in Brazil and still unreported. Therefore, the epidemic was 20 to 30% greater than known from the available information as of February 1999. To be useful to health policy-makers, the surveillance system based on officially reported AIDS cases must be continuously improved.

The number of HIV-infected people is an important measure of the magnitude of the AIDS epidemic in Brazil and allows for comparison with epidemic patterns in other countries. This quantity can be estimated from the number of reported AIDS cases, which in turn needs to be corrected for the distribution of reporting delays and under-recording of cases. These distributions are unknown and must also be estimated from the recorded dates, which were missed to the Brazilian National AIDS registry. This paper estimates the number of AIDS cases diagnosed by imputing the lost information based on an estimate of the pattern in registration delay until 1996. We first fitted a non-stationary bivariate Poisson regression model to estimate the pattern in reporting delay. In the subsequent steps these models were applied to impute new data, thus replacing the missing information, and to estimate the magnitude of the AIDS epidemic in the country. Model estimates ranged from 36,000 to 50,000 AIDS cases diagnosed in Brazil and still unreported. Therefore, the epidemic was 20 to 30% greater than known from the available information as of February 1999. To be useful to health policy-makers, the surveillance system based on officially reported AIDS cases must be continuously improved.

This paper presents an overview of the development of HIV/AIDS in South Africa, taking into consideration the social context and analyzing the factors most likely to have influenced its spread as well as the societal response to it. The authors argue that macro factors such as social and political structures, in addition to behavioral ones, have combined to shape the course of the epidemic. Since various factors linked to social inequalities have combined to shape the pattern and growth of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa, it is inappropriate to focus on only one dimension in an attempt to combat the epidemic. Following the psycho-socio- environmental model, all potential contributing elements need to be addressed simultaneously. This calls for a true interdisciplinary and multi-sectorial approach. It also requires great commitment as well as strong political will.