The President is optimistic that the new scheme will give the financially deprived Brazilians "the same right that the wealthy have to plan the number of children they want."
The new scheme comes just weeks after Pope Benedict XVI denounced government-backed contraception in a visit to Brazil. Though this Latin American nation already hands out free condoms and birth control pills at government-run pharmacies but many poor people in Brazil hardly visit those pharmacies.
According to AP reports, the price for a year's supply of birth control pills under the new program has been pegged at $2.40 for all Brazilians. Any person in the country can buy the pills by simply showing a government-issued identification card carried by Brazilians.
The government is also aiming to boost the number of outlets selling the pills from 3,500 in the beginning to 10,000 by the end of this year. When the $51 million program is fully under way, the government expects to be handing out 50 million packages of birth control pills each year.
