Healthy Skepticism Library item: 12062

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Day M.
Threat to break patents saves Brazil $1bn in cost of HIV treatment
BMJ 2007 Nov 24; 335:(7629):1065
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/335/7629/1065?etoc

Abstract:

Brazil’s policy of bargaining with drug companies over the cost of antiretrovirals-and flouting some international patents-saved the country $1bn (£0.5bn; 0.7bn) between 2001 and 2005, a study has found.

The researchers, from the Harvard School of Public Health, decided to carry out a detailed analysis of the cost of drugs for HIV in Brazil because they thought that little was known about the long term costs associated with providing highly active antiretrovirals to HIV patients in developing countries (PLoS Medicine 2007;4(11):e305 doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0040305). Brazil has free and universal access to antiretrovirals and is considered a model for other countries trying to boost their public treatment programmes.

Brazil’s policy is credited with having helped reduce the prevalence of HIV in the country to 0.6% of the population, similar to that in the United States.

The researchers found that although the cost to Brazil of producing generic antiretrovirals locally grew . . .