The Beginning of AIDS in Brazil
Brazil is a country that has gone through several drastically different political phases. After over three centuries being ruled by the Portuguese government, Brazil attained independence in 1822 and became a republic in 1889. Soon after its independence, it faced several decades of military dictatorship and only in 1985 did it have its first president since the military regimes.The first cases of AIDS in Brazil coincided with the reintroduction of democracy in the country. The very first one found was in São Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, in 1980, but was only defined as AIDS in 1982. Like in most Western states, Brazilians first noticed the epidemic in homosexual and bisexual men, suddenly creating several stereotypes. Soon after, in the urban areas of the country, the focus shifted from the gay community to injecting drug users.
Naturally, like in any country affected by this epidemic, minority groups were primarily targeted. Not only were homosexual men targeted for the fact that the virus started among them, but the poorest areas went into complete chaos when this virus was at its highest point. For a while, the disease was known as the “Doença dos 5 H,” or the “Sickness of the 5 H”- Homosexuals, Hemophiliacs, Hookers, Haitians and Heroin Addicts. Yet these stereotypes are still a reality for several people in this nation.
By the mid 1990s, Brazil was home to .5 million HIV infected people. Yet, what is remarkable about it is the way in which it got right back up on its feet. When realizing this was an issue, the Brazilian Federal Government responded outstandingly. Being comparable to South Africa in 1991, with both nations at HIV infections just over 1% of their population, a decade later South Africa had gone up to a horiffic 25% and Brazil's rates remained at 1%.