Brazil's health
ministry vowed on Tuesday to proceed with plans to put
condom vending machines in schools and sought to defuse
criticism with a new study showing that parents in the
world's largest Roman Catholic nation approve of the
idea.
The study,
conducted by the United Nations body UNESCO, concluded that
two thirds of the parents surveyed like having the
government offer teenagers free condoms and sex
education.
The findings
could come as a surprise to some Brazilian parents. Most of
the population of 185 million is Catholic and the church,
which remains influential despite losing ground to
fast-growing evangelical churches, is opposed to birth
control and preaches sexual abstinence until marriage.
"The health
ministry is not afraid to debate with anyone," said
Health Minister Agenor Alvares at an event to publicize the
new findings.
A representative
of Brazil's Conference of Catholic Bishops was not
immediately available for comment.
Brazil's health
ministry has been offering free condoms and sex education
for more than a decade in some schools as part of an AIDS
prevention program that has been recognized worldwide
for its success in avoiding an epidemic of the
sexually transmitted disease.
To increase
condom distribution, the ministry recently launched a
contest for technical schools to design a better
condom vending machine and will award $25,000 to the
team of students with the best design.
Test machines
could go into schools as early as 2008, and the health
ministry eventually hopes to put them in bars, clubs, and
24-hour gas stations as well.
The UNESCO study
was conducted among 135 schools already participating as
well as a smaller number of nonparticipant schools across
about half of Brazil's states.
The study found
that 45% of students aged 13 to 19 already had an active
sex life and that 60% to 70% had used condoms to protect
against unwanted pregnancy or sexually transmitted
diseases such as AIDS.
About 10% said
they had sex without using a condom because they could not
afford one, while 42% said they simply did not have one
handy. (Reuters)