Brasília, 7/13/2004 (Agência Brasil) - Brazil will inform the 15th World Conference on AIDS, which is taking place in Thailand, that the country is able to solve the puzzle of the HIV type 1 virus, and can detect and specify with precision variants and subtypes found in people who are infected by the disease. All told, Brazil will present 25 papers at the conference.

The ability to identify the AIDS virus was the result of genetic mapping at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp). Mapping the genetic sequence is important in finding a cure (in the form of an antiretroviral vaccine), as well as formulating public policy in dealing with and controlling the disease.

Brazil, as is well-known, has a unique AIDS program which basically consists of government assistance, free of charge, for anyone with the disease. The country provides AIDS drugs, now mostly cheaper, generic, domestic-made versions of brand-name medicines. Brazilian representatives at the AIDS conference will report that the program is a success, having cut the expected number of cases in the country significantly. At the moment, there are 310,000 registered cases of AIDS in Brazil (the number of "expected" cases in 2004 was supposed to be 1.2 million).

Brazilian AIDS vaccine

In June a trial of a preventive AIDS vaccine began in Brazil. With 14,000 new AIDS cases every day around the world, the danger of an epidemic is real and must be dealt with, says Jose Valdez Madruga, who coordinates part of the research on the vaccine and is connected to a worldwide network of researchers. He says that although the vaccine is still in an embryonic stage, he hopes it will work and be available in a few years.

Most HIV positive patients in Brazil have a variant B subtype. However, researchers are concerned with the appearance of other subtypes, such as the C subtype, which has been found in the southern part of Brazil. Biologist Maria Cecília Araripe Sucupira of Unifesp reports that a study of AIDS in the city of Santos (state of São Paulo), where there has been a high rate of the disease, has found that drug resistant strains have appeared. Sucupira points out that various factors can cause the appearance of such strains. People do not take their AIDS drugs correctly, for example. There is also the poverty factor, especially in the Northeast region, she says. And finally, there has been a worrisome spike in cases of AIDS among women.