Aside from treating those infected with HIV, the Brazilian government has also attempted to cut down on new infections by educating people about the disease and how to avoid it.

At the center of Brazil's AIDS prevention efforts is a push to encourage condom use. To make it easier for people to get condoms, the government will buy and distribute nearly 400 million free condoms in 2003. Non-governmental groups also provide free and low-cost condoms to people who cannot afford them, and to high-risk groups.

Brazil is the only country to distribute female condoms. Although they cost the government 23 times what male condoms cost, the government distributed 2 million of them from 2000 to 2001, hoping to make it easier for women to practice safe sex.

The government also encourages condom use through advertising campaigns promoting safe sex and teaching people how the virus is spread.

Education programs in schools are aimed at teaching students how they can stay in good health. Brazil's educational and advertising efforts aimed at young people have been largely successful in educating them about the virus, studies say. According to a study carried out by the Brazilian STD and AIDS Programme and UNESCO, 97 percent of private and public school students know how the virus is transmitted.

Brazil has also worked to decrease the spread of HIV among intravenous drug users. The government runs needle exchanges to discourage the needle sharing that puts users at high risk for HIV. These exchanges have helped decrease HIV infections in cities such as Itajaí, where the infection rate among intravenous drug users was 63 percent in 1998 and decreased to 42 percent in 2000, according to data released by the government