Brazil’s unorthodox HIV prevention and treatment program has been highly successful, but its days may be numbered, The Miami Herald reports. Starting in 1991, national health programs have dispensed increasing quantities of antiretroviral drugs at no cost to patients—going so far as to break international patent laws to manufacture the drugs more cheaply. The programs also took additional measures such as recruiting sex workers to distribute condoms. As a result, HIV prevalence in Brazil in recent years is significantly lower than was projected at the height of the epidemic. However, the current government has displayed less support for the practice than the previous administration, and activists fear that as people with HIV live longer, the costs of the program will increase.

To read the Miami Herald article, click here.