AIDS and the impoverished population in Brazil

AIDS which was initially believed to threaten only specific social groups and regions has rapidly crossed social cultural economic and national boundaries. Brazil with 4600 reported cases is the 4th most affected nation in the world. Although many Brazilians still consider the epidemic to endanger only the intellectual elite current research by the Interdisciplinary Brazilian Association for AIDS (ABIA) indicates that the number of cases is doubling every 10 months posing a growing threat to poor population sectors already affected by substandard living conditions and scarce public health services. To counter the threat the ABIA recently launched a national educational campaign financed in part by the Interamerican Foundation to provide information on AIDS prevention to low income women residents of poor neighborhoods adolescents and other groups at potential risk. The ABIA with the help of community groups schools and womens organizations has produced and distributed pamphlets and fliers describing the illness and its impact and strategies for avoiding infection. ABIA-produced videotapes and slides have been used for health education for businesses schools and health groups. The health department in Toronto Canada recently adapted ABIA materials to provide information on AIDS to Portuguese- speaking immigrants. The organization stressed the need for education on propagation of AIDS through contaminated blood. Reports indicate that 85% of hemophiliacs in Rio de Janeiro have been infected with the virus and 18-20% of reported AIDS cases in the city resulted from contaminated blood. The Brazilian Congress in 1987 passed emergency legislation placing all blood banks under government control in part as a result of ABIA efforts.