The Brazilian government plans to hand out over a billion free condoms to its citizens this year in a massive effort to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS.

"The government campaign in Brazil is straightforward, like nowhere else in Latin America," said Frederico Meyer, a minister at the Permanent Mission of Brazil to the United Nations.

He added that the government would support educational campaigns targeted at women and youth that stress the importance of condom use. According to the U.N. Population Fund, condoms "are the only effective means of protecting sexually active people from HIV infection". In addition to condom distribution and promotion, Brazil also offers affordable anti-retroviral drugs and the government believes access to ARV's is a human right.

Brazil's AIDS program is seen as one of the most progressive and successful in the developing world.