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Brazil: Government
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In recent years, Brazil has threatened several times to break AIDS drug patents in order to obtain lower prices. But the dispute with Abbott is the most serious standoff to date. Brazil said that almost one-third of the $394 million it has budgeted for antiretroviral drugs this year will be used to purchase Kaletra. While the price the government pays for Kaletra has come down to $1.17 per pill from $1.60 in 2002, Brazilian Health Minister Humberto Costa said Brazil can manufacture the drug for 68 cents, saving $54 million a year.
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The victory of Lula well over a year ago in Brazil represented a dramatic shift to the left in Brazilian society. However, the Lula government once elected quickly moved to applying the programme of the bosses. This is preparing new contradictions within the Brazilian labour movement.
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When the Bush administration offered Brazil $40 million for its anti-AIDS program earlier this year, Brasilia turned it down on principle. The terms of the deal required the government to condemn the sexual exploitation of women -- otherwise known as prostitution. Calling the U.S. demand "theological, fundamentalist and Shiite," Brazil rejected the offer.
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