Survey of the State Program STD / AIDS in Sao Paulo, released on Thursday (31), shows that in 2012 2,760 deaths were recorded in the state from the disease, representing a mortality rate of 6.6 per 100 000 inhabitants . The result is 71.1% lower than that recorded 17 years ago in 1995, when there were 7,739 deaths, and the mortality rate of 22.9 cases per 100 000 inhabitants.

The program's success is due to a Paulista specific strategy made in the state and the national program, which determines, by law, universal access to antiretroviral therapy, according to an evaluation of the Program Coordinator State STD / AIDS in Sao Paulo, Rosa Alencar.

Aside from medication [distributed free] over the years, one of the explanations of success, the difference that the program has, when compared with other states, is the structure of a network of specialized services, he said.

According to the coordinator, are two hundred specialized assistance services for the treatment of people living with HIV in 145 counties. Centers, and infectious disease specialists and experts, there are psychologists, social workers, nutritionists and other professionals who support the treatment.

The first cases of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) emerged in Brazil in the early 80s, in São Paulo. Today, the groups most affected by the disease are young, gays and transvestites, sex workers, injecting drug users and prison population.

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