Dear Stern,

On behalf of Dr Teixeira we would like to say that we sincerely appreaciate your thoughtful recognition. The Brazilian Ministry of Health is aware of the need for a better treatment to those living with HIV/AIDS in developing countries and it is taking positive efforts to stimulate the availability of anti-retroviral medicine in such countries throught international, regional and bilateral cooperation projects.

With specific regards to the International Cooperation Program, we were unfortunately unable to approve and fund all the proposals received. Therefore, we've agreed upon two basic guidelines which served as the evaluation criteria for the proposals, being them the willingness of the country to countinue with the treatment and also the possibility of this country to have a project approved by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Regarding Bolívia we have just signed a Thechnical Agreement triangled by DFID and that"s why we haven"t selected it for the refering Program.

It is our intention to begin implementing these projects as soon as possible. We shall be sending a consultant over to the 10 countries mentioned in January to settle all the missing details. Hopefully, our purpose to provide a positive experience to these countries will be, in fact, reached and both patients and health personnel will agree that the provision of treatment with anti-retrviral drugs is a singnificant advance in the worldwide fight against HIV AIDS.

Sincerely,

ROSEMEIRE MUNHOZ
ASSESSORA RESPONSÁVEL
ASSESSORIA DE COOPERAÇÃO EXTERNA