Aline Beckstein
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Rio - The Brazilian AIDS Treatment Program was singled out for praise in the United Nations HIV/AIDS Program (UNAIDS) report presented last week in New York at the 26th Special General Assembly Session on HIV and AIDS. The Brazilian program incorporates a series of measures for the prevention and treatment of AIDS, as well as guaranteeing residents of Brazil free access to medications.

According to the report, 620 thousand people in Brazil are carriers of the HIV virus. This figure represents a third of all the HIV victims in Latin America. The document observes that, despite some progress in the global campaign against AIDS, nearly 39 million people suffer from the virus worldwide.

Last year 170 thousand of the 209 thousand Brazilians who required AIDS treatment were recipients of anti-retroviral therapy, including 30 thousand users of injectable drugs. The report informs that "in various Brazilian cities the number of HIV infections related to dangerous practices involving the use of injectable drugs is declining."

The document observes, however, that the number of young people who are having sexual relations at a younger age and with more partners is increasing. When interviewed, at least one in every three Brazilians between the ages of 15 and 24 said that he or she was sexually active before turning 15.

The Special UN General Assembly Session began on May 31 and ended on June 2. Celso Amorim, the minister of Foreign Relations, was one of the Brazilian representatives.

Translation: David Silberstein