Brazil Hands Out Record 11 Mln Carnival Condoms
 

(submitted by gekkogecko)

BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil, one of the Latin
American countries hardest hit by the AIDS (news - web
sites) epidemic, will hand out a record 11 million
condoms to prevent the spread of the disease during
its erotically charged Carnival festival when casual
sex rises.

With the pre-Lenten celebrations two weeks away, the
"Dress Yourself" campaign is to remind revelers a
condom should be part of their outfit, no matter how
little they wear to parades and parties renowned for
semi-nude, hip-thrusting dancers.

Millions of Brazilians and foreigners flock to cities
such as Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Recife for the
Feb. 4 to Feb. 9 festival. Crammed streets and close
contact in tropical heat intensifies sexual relations,
health authorities said.

The safe-sex campaign hits Brazilian television
screens next week showing grinning celebrities waving
condoms as they dance to popular Carnival samba tune,
"What will you wear?"

Brazil's AIDS program uses free distribution of
condoms and a cocktail of free drugs to prevent the
spread of the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV
(news - web sites), which causes the disease.

Brazil, a country of 180 million people, uses around
1.2 billion condoms a year. The government wants to
boost that number to 3 billion by 2008 through free
distribution and manufacture of cheaper domestic
products.

The current consumption is 6.67 condoms per person..... FYI :p