Jennifer Mendoza
Research expert covering health, pharma and medtech
HIV/AIDS in Brazil
The first official case of HIV in Brazil was reported at the beginning of the 1980s in the middle of a socially, economically, and politically critical period in the history of the South American country. The first outbreak of the disease took place in a decade when Brazilians were returning to democracy after 20 years of military dictatorship, and a time where the current publicly funded health care system saw its conception. Forty years later, the most populated country in Latin America has also the highest amount of HIV cases in the region, with over 960,000 people living with the virus as of 2021. Though it is Haiti who has the highest HIV prevalence among Latin American and Caribbean countries, Brazil also accounts for the largest number of deaths stemming from complications related to AIDS, the disease resulting from an HIV infection.
