Free Distribution of Needles Reduces Spread of AIDS in Brazil

The distribution of syringes to Brazilian drug addicts free of charge has reduced the spread of AIDS among IV drug users, the Brazilian Health Ministry reported. Official figures made public at a seminar in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday show a reduction of more than 40 percent in the AIDS infection rate among IV drug users in the last four years. "In the city of Salvador, 49 percent of IV drug users were infected with HIV in 1996. In 2000, that percentage fell to 7 percent," health officials said in a statement. In Rio de Janeiro, the rate of the spread of AIDS since the free needle distribution program was launched has fallen from 25 percent to 8 percent.

In Baixada Santistas, an area located on the outskirts of Sao Paulo with a high rate of drug use, the percentage of addicts infected with the virus fell from 65 percent in 1996 to 42 percent in 2000, the officials added. The program has also changed the behavior of IV drug users. In 1996, 80 percent of drug users said they had never used condoms during sexual intercourse, a figure that decreased to 63 percent in 2000. Nearly 600,000 people are infected with HIV in Brazil -- the largest number of any Latin American country, although it only represents 0.57 percent of the nation's population. Brazil has been praised for providing free health care to its infected citizens, which has helped reduce the country's AIDS mortality rate by up to 50 percent.

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