Aids, Infância(s) e Políticas Públicas: A Construção de Sujeitos Através do Discurso

Abstract

There is a concern about the incidence of Aids in women in the national Aids scenario, and vertical transmission of HIV has been pinpointed as a priority in prevention policies. However, when it comes to public policies specifically targeted at children living with HIV/Aids, invisibility and silencing will designate different subject positions within the context of Aids. In this sense, the present study aims to investigate the discourses that constitute Brazilian public health policies focused on the matter of Aids in children, and the mechanisms of knowledge/power that construct subject positions. For this purpose, a documental research analyzed 19 official documents according to units of meaning related to the objective of the survey (child/childhood; vertical transmission, pregnancy) found in a database of the Brazilian Ministry of Health. Different positions concerning childhood within the Aids scope were observed, characterizing a childhood that is stated as the target of public policies, even before their HIV status is known, and, conversely, a childhood marked by HIV/Aids that nonetheless ceases to be the target of public policies. Such invisibility positions surrounding the child produce effects within social practices in public health aimed at this segment of the population. Therefore, studies intended to analyze such policies are valid, considering that the discourses that approach childhood and Aids also create public health policies and reflect practices and knowledge.