results. Regular ARV prescriptions were issued to 74 thousand patients by 1,609 physicians whose characteristics were as follows: even gender distribution, age 30 to 49 years, living in the metropolitan area of Greater São Paulo, graduated an average of 16.1 years ago at 93 different Brazilian medical schools, holding specialty diplomas in 67.5% of cases, most in the field of Infectious Diseases (38.9%). The mean number of patients per physician was 10, although 51.6% of physicians prescribed for 20 or more patients. Of these physicians 62% reported specialist knowledge or experience with HIV care, although 2.7% of all prescriptions were issued by physicians without a specialist qualification. Regions with high AIDS incidence had smaller numbers of prescribing physicians, such as Barretos and Baixada Santista, which had the highest concentrations of physicians lacking proper credentials. conclusIon. The absolute majority of HIV patients receive their prescriptions from duly trained and experienced physicians. Nevertheless, the large number of non-qualified physicians together with the reduced number of physicians in regions with elevated HIV incidence constitute a major challenge to achieving comprehensive and adequate care for HIV patients.