As Antiretroviral therapy evolves, AIDS has acquired chronic disease characteristics
especially in those countries in which access to medication is actually guaranteed.
Brazil has become a model country since it has a health care program that has presented
good results towards epidemic control. In November 1996, the Brazilian National
Health Care System announced a law which established the mandatory nature of free
access to antiretroviral medicat ion for all those who needed it. The obtained results with
treatment – that is, progressive reduction of viral load and maintenance and/or
reestablishment of immune system functioning – have been associated to outstanding
benefits on physical health of HIV-positive patients which allow these people to resume
and materialize their life projects. However, universal access to medication that enables
free-of-cost treatment for HIV carriers still faces adherence issues. Considering a more
restricted understanding, adherence may be defined as a person’s behavior – such as
taking medicine, following guidelines of a diet or adopting changes in life style – that
relates to recommendations established by the health care team. In this context, this
study proposes to analyzing HIV-positive subjects´ social representations of
antiretroviral treatment and its implications on their adherence process to it, therefore
featuring images and meanings these HIV-positive individuals who have adhered or not
adhered to antiretroviral therapy have about this kind of treatment and its consequences
on their lives as well as standing out the objectifications and anchorages that form their
social representations. Methodology was based on theoretical formulations about
qualitative research, prioritizing interviews focused on Explicitness Method of
Underlying Speech. These interviews were held at Parasite and Infectious Diseases
Special Reference Unit – this unit belongs to the network of Pará State Health
Secretariat health care units – and at João de Barros Barreto University Hospital, more
specifically at Parasite and Infectious Diseases Clinical Unit.
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