João Biehl and Adriana Petryna
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691157382
- eISBN:
- 9781400846801
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691157382.003.0016
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
In 1996, Brazil became the first developing country to adopt an official policy granting free access to antiretroviral drugs through its broad-reaching but ailing public health care system (SUS). In ...
More
In 1996, Brazil became the first developing country to adopt an official policy granting free access to antiretroviral drugs through its broad-reaching but ailing public health care system (SUS). In the wake of the country's highly publicized antiretroviral drug rollout, public health and care have become increasingly pharmaceuticalized and privatized, and the rights-based demand for drug access has migrated from AIDS to other diseases and patient groups. A growing number of citizens are acting within the state to guarantee their right to health, understood as access to medicines of all kinds, whether or not they are available in official drug formularies. This chapter examines the political subjects that emerge from this complex law–state–market ecology and shows how in this new chapter in the history of the right to health, the judiciary has become a crucial arbiter and purveyor of care and technology access.Less
In 1996, Brazil became the first developing country to adopt an official policy granting free access to antiretroviral drugs through its broad-reaching but ailing public health care system (SUS). In the wake of the country's highly publicized antiretroviral drug rollout, public health and care have become increasingly pharmaceuticalized and privatized, and the rights-based demand for drug access has migrated from AIDS to other diseases and patient groups. A growing number of citizens are acting within the state to guarantee their right to health, understood as access to medicines of all kinds, whether or not they are available in official drug formularies. This chapter examines the political subjects that emerge from this complex law–state–market ecology and shows how in this new chapter in the history of the right to health, the judiciary has become a crucial arbiter and purveyor of care and technology access.
Nicoli Nattrass
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231149136
- eISBN:
- 9780231520256
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231149136.003.0005
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health
This chapter critiques South African President Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki's skepticism of HIV science and his move to halt the distribution antiretroviral drugs in South Africa. When Mbeki became the ...
More
This chapter critiques South African President Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki's skepticism of HIV science and his move to halt the distribution antiretroviral drugs in South Africa. When Mbeki became the president, almost one in five South African adults was already infected with HIV. Rather than immediately developing AIDS policy based on scientific consensus, Mbeki took seriously the claim that HIV science was fundamentally flawed and corrupted by the pharmaceutical industry. He convened the Presidential AIDS Advisory Panel with half the seats allocated to HIV critics, and half to HIV scientists and clinicians. The conflict between the opposing parties delayed the distribution of antiretroviral drugs. The chapter argues that Mbeki's skepticism mirrors three key characteristics of AIDS denialism: extreme cynicism toward the science of HIV pathogenesis; ignorance of advances in antiretroviral treatment; and the active promotion of alternative, unproven therapies in its place.Less
This chapter critiques South African President Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki's skepticism of HIV science and his move to halt the distribution antiretroviral drugs in South Africa. When Mbeki became the president, almost one in five South African adults was already infected with HIV. Rather than immediately developing AIDS policy based on scientific consensus, Mbeki took seriously the claim that HIV science was fundamentally flawed and corrupted by the pharmaceutical industry. He convened the Presidential AIDS Advisory Panel with half the seats allocated to HIV critics, and half to HIV scientists and clinicians. The conflict between the opposing parties delayed the distribution of antiretroviral drugs. The chapter argues that Mbeki's skepticism mirrors three key characteristics of AIDS denialism: extreme cynicism toward the science of HIV pathogenesis; ignorance of advances in antiretroviral treatment; and the active promotion of alternative, unproven therapies in its place.
Jessica Salas Martínez and Ignacio Salom Echeverria
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199237401
- eISBN:
- 9780191723957
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199237401.003.0030
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
This chapter reviews Costa Rica's response to its HIV epidemic. The country's most important achievement in dealing with the epidemic thus far has been ensuring access to affordable antiretroviral ...
More
This chapter reviews Costa Rica's response to its HIV epidemic. The country's most important achievement in dealing with the epidemic thus far has been ensuring access to affordable antiretroviral drugs for all patients who need them. It must be remembered that Costa Rica is a developing country with limited resources to spend on services, and yet it prioritized and managed this problem as though it were part of the wealthier, industrialized world and did so without any foreign financial support. What made this possible was the country's focus on developing social services for its populatin and the size of the epidemic: by the time HIV patients started receiving HAART in November 1997, there were no more than 400 patients requiring it. As soon as they appeared, antiretrovirals were purchased as generics, with optimal results in terms of CD4, viral load and health recovery.Less
This chapter reviews Costa Rica's response to its HIV epidemic. The country's most important achievement in dealing with the epidemic thus far has been ensuring access to affordable antiretroviral drugs for all patients who need them. It must be remembered that Costa Rica is a developing country with limited resources to spend on services, and yet it prioritized and managed this problem as though it were part of the wealthier, industrialized world and did so without any foreign financial support. What made this possible was the country's focus on developing social services for its populatin and the size of the epidemic: by the time HIV patients started receiving HAART in November 1997, there were no more than 400 patients requiring it. As soon as they appeared, antiretrovirals were purchased as generics, with optimal results in terms of CD4, viral load and health recovery.
Nitsan Chorev
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801450655
- eISBN:
- 9780801463921
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801450655.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter examines how the World Health Organization (WHO), under the leadership of Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland, was able to overcome the most pressing financial difficulties and regain ...
More
This chapter examines how the World Health Organization (WHO), under the leadership of Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland, was able to overcome the most pressing financial difficulties and regain some of its authority over global health programs by strategically adapting to the principles of neoliberalism. It considers the WHO's efforts to accommodate the interests of the private sector and reinvent the organization as a business-friendly venue, in part by avoiding antagonizing an industry even when important health issues were at stake. It also discusses the WHO's strategic resistance in two instances: a global campaign against the tobacco industry as part of its antismoking mission, and the WHO's opposition to the pharmaceutical sector in the dispute over intellectual property protection and access to antiretroviral drugs.Less
This chapter examines how the World Health Organization (WHO), under the leadership of Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland, was able to overcome the most pressing financial difficulties and regain some of its authority over global health programs by strategically adapting to the principles of neoliberalism. It considers the WHO's efforts to accommodate the interests of the private sector and reinvent the organization as a business-friendly venue, in part by avoiding antagonizing an industry even when important health issues were at stake. It also discusses the WHO's strategic resistance in two instances: a global campaign against the tobacco industry as part of its antismoking mission, and the WHO's opposition to the pharmaceutical sector in the dispute over intellectual property protection and access to antiretroviral drugs.
Nicoli Nattrass
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231149136
- eISBN:
- 9780231520256
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231149136.003.0001
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health
This introductory chapter focuses on the different conspiracy theories about acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Most people do not believe conspiracy theories about AIDS. But suspicions that ...
More
This introductory chapter focuses on the different conspiracy theories about acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Most people do not believe conspiracy theories about AIDS. But suspicions that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) may have been created in a laboratory, and that the pharmaceutical industry invented AIDS as a means of selling toxic drugs, persist until today. There are two theories about the origin of HIV. First, HIV is a manmade bioweapon; and second, HIV is harmless and antiretroviral drugs themselves cause AIDS. Although very different, both theories make a “conspiratorial move” against HIV science by implying that scientists have either been duped by, or are part of, conspiracy to inflict harm. This book explores the factors prolonging the erroneous belief that the American government manufactured the HIV to be used as a biological weapon, as well as the belief that antiretroviral drugs caused AIDS.Less
This introductory chapter focuses on the different conspiracy theories about acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Most people do not believe conspiracy theories about AIDS. But suspicions that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) may have been created in a laboratory, and that the pharmaceutical industry invented AIDS as a means of selling toxic drugs, persist until today. There are two theories about the origin of HIV. First, HIV is a manmade bioweapon; and second, HIV is harmless and antiretroviral drugs themselves cause AIDS. Although very different, both theories make a “conspiratorial move” against HIV science by implying that scientists have either been duped by, or are part of, conspiracy to inflict harm. This book explores the factors prolonging the erroneous belief that the American government manufactured the HIV to be used as a biological weapon, as well as the belief that antiretroviral drugs caused AIDS.
Nicoli Nattrass
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231149136
- eISBN:
- 9780231520256
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231149136.001.0001
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health
Since the early days of the AIDS epidemic, many bizarre and dangerous hypotheses have been advanced to explain the origins of the disease. This book explores the social and political factors ...
More
Since the early days of the AIDS epidemic, many bizarre and dangerous hypotheses have been advanced to explain the origins of the disease. This book explores the social and political factors prolonging the erroneous belief that the American government manufactured the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to be used as a biological weapon, as well as the myth's consequences for behavior, especially within African American and black South African communities. Contemporary AIDS denialism, the belief that HIV is harmless and that antiretroviral drugs are the true cause of AIDS, is a more insidious AIDS conspiracy theory. Advocates of this position make a “conspiratorial move” against HIV science by implying its methods cannot be trusted and that untested, alternative therapies are safer than antiretrovirals. These claims are genuinely life-threatening, as tragically demonstrated in South Africa when the delay of antiretroviral treatment resulted in nearly 333,000 AIDS deaths and 180,000 HIV infections—a tragedy of stunning proportions. The book identifies four symbolically powerful figures ensuring the lifespan of AIDS denialism: the hero scientist (dissident scientists who lend credibility to the movement); the cultropreneur (alternative therapists who exploit the conspiratorial move as a marketing mechanism); the living icon (individuals who claim to be living proof of AIDS denialism's legitimacy); and the praise-singer (journalists who broadcast movement messages to the public). It also describes how pro-science activists have fought back by deploying empirical evidence and political credibility to resist AIDS conspiracy theories, which is part of the crucial project to defend evidence-based medicine.Less
Since the early days of the AIDS epidemic, many bizarre and dangerous hypotheses have been advanced to explain the origins of the disease. This book explores the social and political factors prolonging the erroneous belief that the American government manufactured the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to be used as a biological weapon, as well as the myth's consequences for behavior, especially within African American and black South African communities. Contemporary AIDS denialism, the belief that HIV is harmless and that antiretroviral drugs are the true cause of AIDS, is a more insidious AIDS conspiracy theory. Advocates of this position make a “conspiratorial move” against HIV science by implying its methods cannot be trusted and that untested, alternative therapies are safer than antiretrovirals. These claims are genuinely life-threatening, as tragically demonstrated in South Africa when the delay of antiretroviral treatment resulted in nearly 333,000 AIDS deaths and 180,000 HIV infections—a tragedy of stunning proportions. The book identifies four symbolically powerful figures ensuring the lifespan of AIDS denialism: the hero scientist (dissident scientists who lend credibility to the movement); the cultropreneur (alternative therapists who exploit the conspiratorial move as a marketing mechanism); the living icon (individuals who claim to be living proof of AIDS denialism's legitimacy); and the praise-singer (journalists who broadcast movement messages to the public). It also describes how pro-science activists have fought back by deploying empirical evidence and political credibility to resist AIDS conspiracy theories, which is part of the crucial project to defend evidence-based medicine.
