Brasília - A study released Tuesday (23) by the Ministry of Health on the behavior of Brazilians in relation to AIDS reveals that, among the 6 thousand people in the 15-54 age bracket interviewed across the country, the group that least uses condoms comprises people who have had many sexual partners and have used cocaine at least once in their lives.

The study also shows that the group that most uses condoms is composed of young people of higher educational and socio-economic status who don't have permanent sexual partners. Differences in terms of level of education and income appear across the board in the study. For example, the use of condoms varies from 58% among high-income people to 48% among the poorest segments.

"What is necessary is to improve access among poor segments of the population to information and, most of all, to methods of AIDS prevention," Minister Humberto Costa acknowledged. He went on to say: "We must expand the free distribution of condoms. We have been doing this for some time. The number of condoms consumed in the country has been growing." During a collective interview, Costa recalled that a condom factory is scheduled to be inaugurated in the state of Acre in 2005.

The study released by the Ministry of Health also discovered that men who have sexual relations with other men are more cautious. Around 44% of the homosexuals affirmed the regular use of condoms, whereas only 28% of heterosexual men admit this as a regular practice. Nevertheless, only 3.5 % of the men interviewed confessed to having had sex with other men.

Among women, 62% said they had had gynecological examinations in the past three years. This percentage rises to 70% for those who are sexually active, 81% for women who completed elementary school, and 64% for those who attended grade school but didn't finish.

Agência Brasil
Reporter: Cecília Jorge
Translator: David Silberstein
11/25/2004