By: Marina Lemle
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Conceived and coordinated by the Brazilian Ministry of Health, in association with civil society organisations, the initiative was set up in 2004 with a US$1 million grant from the Ford Foundation. This seed money is intended to be used to the promote collaboration and technology transfer between the countries involved.
Last month’s meeting had two objectives: to establish the network’s procedural rules and to identify and discuss areas of potential collaboration, as well as a framework to support bilateral and multilateral agreements for technology transfer.
"The main outcome was the evident mutual interest in multilateral cooperation, in spite of the lack of tradition and the cultural and language barriers," Kuchenbecker told SciDev.Net.
In one collaboration, Brazil, China and Russia will work together to develop and produce generic versions of antiretroviral drugs. According to Kuchenbecker, the partnership relies on each nation’s strengths. Brazil has the infrastructure for drug distribution but lacks Russia’s capacity for large-scale production. China, meanwhile, has developed and is willing to share the drug’s active ingredients.
"[The countries involved] will control the whole chain of production and also retain the intellectual property, so that each can have access to the drugs," explains Kuchenbecker.
Mariângela Simão, coordinator of Brazil’s International Cooperation Programme for HIV/AIDS, says the network will help to build long-term sustainable strategies to the AIDS problem.
"The collaborating countries already have some development in the area and will now be able to make joint efforts," Simão told SciDev.Net. "Our technical capacity will improve. We will receive and develop technologies in strategic areas and share retroviral drugs."