Messages for teens in Brazil.

PIP: Brazil launched sex education and contraception programs for teens through various methods, including peer counseling and group training, as early as the 1970s. While these programs achieved a great deal, Brazil in recent years has nonetheless witnessed an increase in unwanted teen pregnancy and illegal induced abortion. An estimated 4 million illegal induced abortions are conducted annually in Brazil, more than the country's 3.6 million annual births. An estimated one million induced abortions occur among teenagers annually, a figure which has tripled in two decades. The field of adolescent health education needs to close the awareness gap between teenagers and their parents who often do not know about the sexual activity of their children. Continuous education is needed not only to prevent unwanted pregnancy and abortion, but also sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS. As for AIDS, recent research identifies it as the major cause of death for women aged 22-35 years and the second major cause of death for men in the same age group. Brazil had 58,595 cumulative cases of AIDS in 1994, with unofficial estimates of up to 1% of the population of Sao Paulo State potentially HIV seropositive. The government and nongovernmental organizations have joined forces to combat AIDS, stressing education for attitudinal change.^ieng