The journal Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology and Society has just published a review of Uma História Global e Brasileira da AIDS, 1986–2021 (Editora Fiocruz, 2023), authoredby historians and science editors of História Ciência Saúde-Manguinhos Marcos Cueto and Gabriel Lopes. Written by Karina Ramacciotti, a full Professor at the National University of Quilmes, Argentina, the review emphasizes how the book combines an analysis of Brazil’s experience with AIDS with a broader global perspective on the epidemic.
Based on extensive archival research and a sophisticated theoretical framework, Cueto and Lopes reconstruct four decades of responses to AIDS, from the emergence of the first cases in Brazil to the dismantling of key programs in recent years. Ramacciotti’s review highlights the book’s ability to connect international conferences, scientific and pharmacological advances, and prevention campaigns with the voices of social movements that fought against stigma and for the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS.
Ramacciotti also highlights that the book is organized in three stages: the first (1987–1996), when democratization in Brazil allowed social organizations to emerge as central actors in the fight against AIDS; the second (1996–2007), which details Brazil’s pioneering universal access to antiretroviral drugs, influencing global debates on intellectual property and health equity; and the third (2007–2021), marked by political setbacks, conservative pressures, and the weakening of national programs, culminating with the dissolution of the National AIDS Program under Jair Bolsonaro.
According to the review, Uma História Global e Brasileira da AIDS stands as a landmark contribution to the social history of health and disease. Cueto and Lopes demonstrate convincingly that local political and scientific processes must be analyzed in relation to global trends, shedding light on both Brazil’s particular trajectory and broader transnational dynamics. Read the full review, “Toward a political history of HIV in Brazil and worldwide,” published in Tapuya.
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