Brazil's Aids policy 'remarkable'

Bargaining with pharmaceutical firms to bring down the price of Aids drugs and producing cheap generic versions has saved Brazil $1bn, a study has shown.

Infection rates in the Latin American country have been kept at a similar level to the US, the report finds.

And more than 180,000 Brazilians have access to Aids treatment.

Brazil's achievement is described as "remarkable", in the study published by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health in the United States.

Brazil's policy for dealing with HIV and Aids has long been widely admired for its commitment to effective treatment combined with an aggressive promotion of the safe sex message.

In 1996 it became the first developing country to commit to providing free and universal access to Aids drugs.

Broken patent

Now a study published in the Public Library of Science journal by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health suggests the policy has saved Brazil around $1bn between 2001 and 2005.