Advocating prevention over punishment: the risks of HIV criminalization in Burkina Faso.

In 2004, parliamentarians from 12 countries in West and Central Africa created a template for legislation aimed at protecting the rights of people with HIV and stemming rising HIV infection rates by criminalizing HIV transmission. Since then, the template has been adopted as national law in 15 African countries, including Burkina Faso in 2008. The Burkina Faso law offers a number of protections for people with HIV, such as confidentiality of HIV test results, and holds the government accountable for providing health services for people with HIV and education about HIV in schools.

AIDS in Latin America: assessing the current status of the epidemic and the ongoing response.

Background: This article provides a summary of the current status of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Latin America, as well as an outline of the diverse responses to it.

Methods: A search of international databases (Pubmed and ISI-Web of Science), regional databases (Scielo and Lilacs), regional and national documents and UNAIDS reports. Data are presented according to subregion.

Brazil and access to HIV/AIDS drugs: a question of human rights and public health.

I explore the relationship between public health and human rights by examining the Brazilian government's policy of free and universal access to anti-retroviral medicines for people with HIV/AIDS. The Brazilian government's management of the HIV/AIDS epidemic arose from initiatives in both civil society and the governmental sector following the democratization of the country. The dismantling of authoritarian rule in Brazil was accompanied by a strong orientation toward human rights, which formed the sociopolitical framework of Brazil's response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Access to antiretroviral drugs in Brazil.

Since 1996, the Brazilian Ministry of Health has guaranteed free and universal access to antiretroviral treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS. Implementation of this policy has had political, financial, and logistical challenges. I have investigated the history and context of antiretroviral policy in Brazil, the logistics of the drugs' distribution, and the government's strategies for acquisition of the drugs.

[Brazilian policy for the distribution and production of antiretroviral drugs: a privilege or a right?].

This article focuses on the Brazilian National AIDS Program and its policy of distributing and producing antiretroviral drugs, emphasizing links between local decisions and global HIV/AIDS policies. Emphasizing recent developments in the Brazilian and international scenario with regard to access to treatment for people with HIV/AIDS, the article highlights the participation by the pharmaceutical industry, governments, civil society, and UN agencies in establishing responses to the pandemic. The author concludes by identifying transnational activism as a key response to both the power of pharmaceutical corporations and the law of the market (including patent laws), thus fostering global solidarity for people with HIV/AIDS.