Former Welsh rugby player Gareth Thomas, who announced his HIV-positive status in 2019, traveled to Rio de Janeiro this summer to participate in the International AIDS Conference and the Tackle HIV campaign, aimed at reducing stigma around HIV infection and transmission.
Thomas joined local advocates like Welton Gabriel, a 36-year-old activist from São Paulo who learned of his positive diagnosis 12 years earlier. Gabriel initially experienced severe discrimination after disclosing his status to friends, many of whom cut contact with him. He eventually contracted a treatment-resistant strain of the virus, which took seven months to bring under control with appropriate medication. Today, Gabriel works with Barong, an organization providing mobile testing, education, and HIV prevention information to vulnerable Brazilian communities.
Brazil, home to approximately 214 million people, has the largest number of HIV-positive individuals in Latin America, with nearly 1.1 million cases. Despite the country’s public healthcare system offering free medications that suppress the virus and prevent transmission, research from UNAIDS Brazil indicates that more than half of all HIV-positive individuals experience some form of discrimination. Many have faced exclusion from family members or denied job opportunities after revealing their status.
Advocates attribute persistent stigma partly to outdated perceptions dating to 1990, when Brazilian singer Cazuza died of AIDS at age 32. Gabriel notes that many Brazilians remain unaware of how dramatically medical science has transformed HIV prognosis over the past three decades. Thomas emphasized that modern medications enable people to live normal, healthy lives, yet many avoid testing or treatment due to misconceptions about the virus. National health data shows that 27 percent of Brazilian HIV-positive individuals receive diagnosis only at advanced AIDS stages, when immune systems are severely compromised. In 2024, more than 9,000 people in Brazil died from AIDS-related causes, a figure medical experts describe as preventable given available testing and treatment resources.
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