Title : The effectiveness of the national strategy for HIV Prevention in Brazil
Abstract:
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection is currently one of the greatest challenges relating to communicable diseases, given its high transmissibility and the absence of a cure. Since HIV became a pandemic, measures to restrain the virus are of global interest, with enormous efforts to find efficient ways to stop transmission and studies to discover a cure. In Brazil, the first case of the virus was identified in the 1980s. By 2021, there were more than a million reported cases of people living with HIV. Brazil has developed strategies as part of its public health policy to prevent HIV transmission throughout the population and reduce the comorbidities caused by the pathogen. These measures were named Combination Prevention and involved initiatives in biomedical, behavioural, and legislative areas. This research intends to discuss what these interventions were to demonstrate their effectiveness in the domestic context of the HIV pandemic. Peer-reviewed articles were drawn from the databases PubMed, Medline, and LILACS. In addition, official documents from the Brazilian Ministry of Health were consulted. Throughout the actions taken in the country, there were therapeutic treatment free of charge for every infected person regardless of his or her viral load; follow ups of pregnant women to avoid vertical transmission; preventive actions, such as the free distribution of condoms and lubricants; availability of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) tests in the primary care units for the general public; as well as primary and secondary prophylaxis. These measures enabled Brazil to reduce the total number of people infected with HIV. In addition, it maximised the quantity of infected patients with a suppressed viral load and people under consistent treatment. Hence, the country managed to reduce morbidity and mortality of individuals living with the virus.
