Abstract

In Brazil, a country of great inequalities, people with HIV and AIDS commonly need health services and care freely provided by the State. This study was carried out based on historical- dialectical materialism, finding out the social determinations, mediations and contradictions of Brazilian health policy. The research corpus was made up of from the following data sources: legislation that deals with fiscal austerity and restricts the public budget; official
reports from the Ministry of Health on HIV and AIDS cases, and gray literature published by the non-official media. In order to go deep into the subject, a narrative review of papers and books was also carried. The results pointed out that in the last six years, under neoliberal deepening, the downsizing and budget cuts for social policies which were underpinned by a blend of neoconservative and neoliberal ideologies. It also found out that during the neoliberal and neoconservative governments, there was an increase in HIV cases among young gay men and impoverished black people. Women in the Northeast, the poorest region in the country, continue to be infected with HIV at a higher rate than in regions with better income and education indicators. Due to resource cuts, HIV comprehensive prevention work tailored in Brazil, which was mainly implemented by progressive non-governmental organizations, has been significantly reduced and, its coverage was also limited because of conservative approaches, restricting information addressed to key populations, such as homosexuals and sex workers.

Keywords

HIV and AIDS, health policy, neoliberalism, neoconservatism