Cost of HIV treatment rising fast in Brazil

A new report has revealed the ever-increasing costs of providing HIV treatment in Brazil and the measures the country's government has had to introduce in order to maintain affordable treatment.

The research, undertaken by a team from the Harvard School of Medicine and published in the PLOS Medicine journal, revealed that the costs of providing anti-HIV drugs doubled between 2004 and 2005.

Increased costs resulted from more people with HIV/AIDS beginning treatment, as well as those who were already receiving treatment both living longer and developing resistance to their original forms of anti-HIV drugs.

Amy Nunn, lead author of the study, said: "Brazil's challenges may foreshadow the rising costs other developing countries will face as they work to provide universal access to treatment for all people living with HIV/AIDS.

"The Brazilian experience suggests that if the global community is truly committed to providing high-quality treatment to all people living with HIV/AIDS, far more resources must be mobilised to achieve this important goal," she added.

According to the World Health Organization, in 2005 there were an estimated 620,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Brazil, with 14,000 people dying from the disease that year.

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