BRAZIL:Brazil will subsidise birth control pills for the poor, minister for health José Temporao has announced, a decision that may stoke a simmering conflict between the state and Catholic Church over contraception and abortion.
Birth control pills will be discounted up to 90 per cent at a network of 3,500 government-authorised chemists across Brazil. That number will rise to 10,000 chemists by the end of the year, Mr Temporao said.
A pack of pills designed to last a month will cost the equivalent of 20 US cents (€0.15). The government hopes to boost the supply of pills to 50 million per year from the current 20 million.
It also wants more men to take advantage of the free vasectomies offered by the public health service.
Mr Temporao said the measures were needed after the government failed to reduce newborn child and maternal deaths by 15 per cent.
He also suggested the government should present a proposal on the legalisation of abortion to Congress, despite the church's opposition.
"This issue has to be inserted into the widest family planning policy. The National Congress will decide if there is going to be a change in the legislation. The government will get the issue rolling so that the women can decide," he said.
Earlier this month during a visit to the world's most populous Catholic country, Pope Benedict delivered a strong anti-abortion message and railed against pre-marital sex as local bishops criticised the government for the distribution of free condoms and other birth control policies.
Brazil's government hands out millions of free condoms each year to help prevent the spread of Aids under a programme praised by the United Nations.