Improving Healthcare and Quality of Life for People Living with HIV/AIDS in Brazil

AIDS-SUS (National AIDS Program - National Health Service) 

Brazil’s National AIDS Program is among the best in the world. The Government has invested heavily in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), targeting groups most at risk, and offering antiretroviral treatment – free of charge – to all identified patients who qualify for it.

However, Brazil is witnessing changes in the epidemic’s profile and is seeking to fine tune its policy. In recent years, the epidemic has been spreading to women, poorer groups, and towards the interior of the country. According to the Brazil's Ministry of Health, there are about 630 thousand people living with the HIV/AIDS virus in Brazil.

The World Bank has been a partner to Brazil’s HIV/AIDS and STD program since its inception in 1993, with almost US$ 500 million in four loans: AIDS and STD Control Project, AIDS and STD Control II, AIDS and STD Control Project 3; and the latest AIDS-Brazil’s Unified Health System (SUS)- (National AIDS Program - National Health Service). 

In May 2010, the World Bank approved a US$ 67 million loan to Brazil, in support of the federal AIDS-SUS Project, aiming at increasing prevention, care and treatment services for groups most at risk of HIV/AIDS and STDs. The project will also support the Government’s efforts to improve health program performance through improved governance, decentralization and results-based management.

As Brazil moves to a second generation of programs and designs new innovative responses to the epidemic, the project will improve surveillance, prevention and control of STD and HIV/AIDS among groups most at risk. 

Although the project does not include financing for antiretroviral drugs, it will make the overall management of these programs more efficient by linking the allocation of resources to expected health results, while supporting Government and civil society (CSOs) decentralized actions, capacity building and innovation. The project will also map the epidemic and the health response for groups most at risk by region.

The National AIDS Program activities include:

• Training in strategic planning, definition of success measures, monitoring achievements and learning from experience for staff at the three levels of government and in civil society organizations;
• Development of policies, guidelines and technical regulations for Brazil’s Unified Health System (SUS).