SUSAN DENTZER:
The "Carnival" scenes are classically Brazilian. The message in Portuguese is blunt: If you're having sex, wear a condom to prevent the spread of AIDS. This is just one of dozens of anti-AIDS commercials created over the past two decades by the Brazilian government. They're frank in their displays of sexuality, even homosexuality.
When it comes to fighting AIDS, Brazil is one developing country that has defied the odds. In 1995, the World Bank estimated that there would be 1.2 million Brazilians infected with HIV by the year 2000. Today, the number of those estimated to be infected with the virus is half that amount. International public health experts say the way Brazil has stemmed the tide is an example for other nations battling the AIDS pandemic.
That accomplishment has come about thanks to Brazil's two- pronged strategy: Free antiviral drugs and other treatment to AIDS patients, and a concerted campaign to prevent further spread of the disease.
In its prevention efforts in particular, Brazil has set a bold course favoring an emphasis on safe sex as opposed to an emphasis on abstinence. Many public health experts say that approach is an example for other nations fighting AIDS. But at the same time, Brazil's AIDS prevention policies also represent a marked departure from other countries, that includes the United States and its policies for assisting other AIDS affected countries around the world.
One example is the attention placed on use of condoms. The Brazilian government will purchase and give away for free nearly 400 million condoms this year. It wants to triple that number in the next three years, and is even planning to invest in a condom factory to make that possible. Discussion of the devices pervades the many government- sponsored television commercials and other "social marketing" efforts to halt the spread of AIDS.
These AIDS-prevention messages are welcomed by Brazilians like Domingoes Salomone, 35, and his partner, Mario Carvalho, 25. They run a store in Brazil's largest city, Sao Paolo, selling socks designed by Carvalho. Salomone has AIDS; Carvalho is HIV-free. Salomone says that although the AIDS warnings arrived too late for him, they're still critical.
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