Rio - Research by the Brazilian and French governments on the evolution of AIDS points to social and cultural inequalities as the chief obstacle to efforts to prevent and combat the diseasse. This topic was the theme of the 14th Seminar in the Franco-Brazilian AIDS Program, held yesterday (9) in Rio de Janeiro.

The event gathered representatives of the Ministries of Health of both countries - as well as Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela - and non-governmental organizations. For the director of the Brazilian Ministry of Health's National STD/AIDS Program, Pedro Chequer, the exchange of experiences can help countries perfect their public health policies. He favors regionalized campaigns and the allocation of more funds to the North and Northeast regions, where studies show the disease to have advanced, especially in the interior of the states.

Chequer also announced that a pilot health promotion project will be implanted in Brazilian public schools in 2005. The project introduces the subjects of sexual orientation and the use of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco into the school curriculum beginning in the first grade. Chequer went on to say that the government is investing in campaigns aimed at women and the black population, which the Ministry's research has shown to be the population segments most vulnerable to the disease.

Agência Brasil
Reporter: Daisy Nascimento
Translator: David Silberstein
12/10/2004