Search

This article examines the emergence of a synergy that allowed the early development of what was once considered the best anti-AIDS program in the developing world. Initial responses to AIDS in Brazil during the 1980s and early 1990s were marked by a confrontation between activists concerned with human rights, and a government focusing on biomedical management of the epidemic. After 1992, activists, medical researchers, government officials, international donors like the Ford Foundation, health officers, and multilateral agencies like the World Bank were galvanized to cooperate. This was a complex process of braiding knowledge and practices related to activism, science, public health, governance and philanthropy in which each constituency maintained its independence. The result was a complex, holistic, and nuanced AIDS program. The process helped bridge the gap between knowledge and advocacy, generated public awareness, and was instrumental to reducing AIDS mortality developing local human resources and comprehensive policies. Keywords: AIDS; Brazil; Ford Foundation; World Bank Este artigo analisa a emergencia de uma sinergia que permitiu o desenvolvimento inicial do que ja foi considerado o melhor programa contra a AIDS no mundo em desenvolvimento. As respostas iniciais a AIDS no Brasil durante as decadas de 1980 e 1990 foram marcadas por um confronto entre ativistas, preocupados com os direitos humanos e governos, orientados para uma gestao biomedica da epidemia. Depois de 1992, a colaboracao de ativistas, pesquisadores em medicina, doadores internacionais como a Fundacao Ford, autoridades de saude, e agencias multilaterais como o Banco Mundial foi galvanizada. Foi um processo complexo de entrelacamento de conhecimentos e praticas de ativismo, ciencia, saude publica, governanca e filantropia, em que cada setor manteve sua independencia. O resultado foi um programa de AIDS complexo, holistico e distinto. O processo ajudou a preencher a lacuna entre conhecimento e advocacia, gerou conscientizacao publica e foi fundamental para diminuir a mortalidade por AIDS e construir recursos humanos locais e politicas abrangentes. Palavras-chave: AIDS; Brasil; Fundacao Ford; Banco Mundial, Between the mid-1980s, when the first responses to AIDS appeared, and 1996, when antiretroviral drugs transformed what had been a death sentence into a manageable illness, experts, donors, government officials, [...]