Rio de Janeiro Giving Out 3 Million Free Condoms During Carnival Festivities

Participants taking part in the famous Carnival festivities of Rio de Janeiro will be able to party a little bit more safely this year after officials announced plans to hand out 3 million free condoms.

The government initiative is meant to help stop the spread of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases during the five-day festival.

While the campaign targets 19 through 24-year-old gay men the condoms will be handed out to anyone willing to take them.

Brazilian Health Minister Alexandre Padilha told CNN:

“There is a new generation that has not had the experience of seeing idols who fought at the beginning of the AIDS (epidemic) and who died, and therefore (they) are less sensitive to the risks of HIV infection.”

Padilha was referring specifically to two of Brazil’s biggest rockstars who died of AIDS in the 1990s.

To promote the free condom program and to raise awareness about sexually transmitted diseases health officials will also hand out 330,000 paper fans with information about STDs written on them. Also being offered will be 160,000 informational pamphlets and 55,000 small bags party-goers can use to carry their free condoms.

Furthering the health organizations efforts will be HIV and hepatitis testing tends that will be setup in cities throughout the area.

The health department has enacted the program because upwards of 40% of the residents in Rio de Janeiro have said in recent studies that they do not use condoms.

Do you think the government’s plan to hand out 3 million free condoms will help slow the spread of HIV, Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases?