A new HIV/AIDS prevention campaign to be launched early 2008 will likely generate another controversy in the largely Catholic country, Brazil. A joint Health and Education Ministries program will result in the installation of condom dispensing machines in 100 public schools.

To push for youth participation in the program, the two government agencies and the United Nations sponsored a nationwide contest for students to design the condom dispenser. Three finalists were selected on Friday.

Mariangela Simao, head of Brazil's National Program of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, said the project is educational and does not seek to trivialize the use of condoms.

Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao said the new campaign targets young Brazilians between the ages 13 and 24. The renewed AIDS prevention campaign was launched following a report that 16 percent of the 70,000 AIDS cases documented in Brazil involved youths below 24.

Brazil, known for its liberated Mardi Gras celebrations, is not afraid to use unconventional images or methods when it comes to pushing for its AIDS prevention program. In 2002 a campaign poster promoting the use of condoms among male homosexuals caused a stir in the nation.

The poster showed a Brazilian father and son hugging, with the tagline, "Use a condom with your boyfriend. This should also be a conversation between a father and his son."