We called it hondling in my old neighborhood. Whatever you want to call it, the Latin American nation saved a bundle on AIDS drug between 2001 and 2005, according to a new study in the Public Library of Science journal. Infection rates remained at levels comparable to the US and more than 180,000 Brazilians gained access to treatments.

The researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health analyzed the costs of individual AIDS drugs in Brazil and found that generic drugs produced in Brazil were actually more expensive than similar drugs made elsewhere. But by haggling with drugmakers for lower prices on their patented brand-name AIDS meds, Brazil was able to lower the overall average costs for AIDS drugs.

“Brazil’s AIDS treatment program has been cited widely as the developing world’s largest and most successful AIDS treatment program,” they wrote. “The program guarantees free access to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for all people living with HIV/AIDS in need of treatment.”

A recent example occurred earlier this year, when Brazil threatened to issue compulsory licenses for Merck’s efavirenz and to then import a cheaper generic version from India. Merck eventually agreed to a deal. Although Brazil signed intellectual property agreements with the World Trade Organization, the country cited a clause that allows compulsory licensing under certain public health circumstances. This is the same clause cited by other countries, such as Thailand and Italy, which have done the same thing. Brazil, by the way, produces generic versions of eight non-patented AIDS drugs.