Brazil
is set to launch its first ever sex education campaign targeted at gay
adolescents, according to press reports, in a bid to curb the rise of
HIV amongst gay men.
The country's Ministry of Health
launched a campaign to work with
non-governmental organisations that focus on the health of gay, teenage
boys yesterday.
The campaign will also look at
preventing the increased transmission of
HIV amongst gay adults.
It will take place through the
country's
radio stations and will
feature interviews with other adolescents discussing their sexuality,
according to the online magazine Brazzil.
"There is nothing more important or
relevant than getting through to
adolescent homosexuals who find it difficult to deal with the question
of prevention at home and in school," the magazine quoted Minister of
Health Humberto Costa as saying yesterday.
The initiative comes as increasing
numbers of health works in the UK
call for sex education aimed at gay teenagers.
Last year, at a Labour Big
Conversation,
sexual health experts called
for the government to
improve
the standard of sexual education, to add it to the national
curriculum, and to start teaching children around 10 years old.
They said that a more holistic sexual
education would lead to the next
generation being better protected from HIV and other sexually
transmitted infections.
Additionally, An Independent Advisory
Group on Sexual Health and HIV
told the Department of Health (DoH) in February that sex and
relationship education should
pay
particular attention to the needs of young lesbian, gay and
bisexual (LGB) people.
Additionally, it said the problem of
homophobia in schools should be
combated more enthusiastically.
“Research continues to tell us about
the
parlous state of affairs in
schools and youth settings, and the rates of suicide and self-harm
among young LGB people should be a cause for grave concern," the group
said at the time.
"Visible work to make it clear that
homophobia is as unacceptable in
schools as racism should be done at all levels.”