U.S. researchers say Brazil has been successful in its nearly 20-year effort to treat people living with the human immunodeficiency virus and AIDS.

Scientists at Brown University and the Harvard School of Public Health say Brazil's success shows developing countries can successfully combat the epidemic with inexpensive generic medicines being a large part of the solution.

The researcher said Brazil accomplished its mission by pursuing controversial policies that prompted pharmaceutical companies to substantially lower their prices and generic companies to develop lower-cost alternatives for use in emerging markets.

"Brazil has proved it is possible to treat people with AIDS in developing countries," said Assistant Professor Amy Nunn of the university's Warren Alpert Medical School, the study's lead author. She said Brazil saved more than $1 billion as a result of bargaining with multinational pharmaceutical companies, resulting in significant changes in global AIDS policy.

The researchers included Francisco Bastos, an AIDS epidemiologist at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Rio de Janeiro, researcher Elize da Fonseca at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and Associate Professor Sofia Gruskin at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

The study will appear in the July-August issue of the journal Health Affairs.