In a country that is the world's largest Roman Catholic nation, the government of Brazil announced that it would be adding the "morning after" pill to its birth control program for the poor. The government hopes to shrink unplanned pregnancies among the lower class and keep women from resorting to drastic measures in the conservative country that has banned abortion.

At a discussion held Monday, Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao called the morning-after ill "an important tool for the prevention of unplanned pregnancies" and will allow poor women in Brazil to have the same birth control options as rich women

In an attempt to help the economically deprived people reduce unwanted pregnancies and cut down on illegal abortions, the government of Brazil now plans to distribute "morning after" pills to the poor.

Under the newly expanded birth control program, the country's Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao announced the new development just a month after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the government would provide cheap birth control pills at 10,000 drug stores across Brazil

With President Bush gearing up for his trip to the G8 Summit later this month in Germany. The Bush administration is announcing new proposals on global development to showcase U.S. leadership. On Wednesday Bush proposed that the next five-year phase of the U.S. global AIDS plan provide $30 billion in U.S. assistance to impoverished countries, mainly in Africa.

If approved it would make the U.S. the single largest donor to the campaign against HIV/Aids and is in addition to the $15 billion Washington has been spending since 2003

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Monday has reportedly unveiled a program for his country that will help provide cheap birth control pills at 10,000 drug stores across the country.

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 persistent infection of chronic hepatitis C has been referred to as a "silent epidemic" that was previously considered incurable. However, the latest evidence from a long-term study now shows that the drug therapy for hepatitis C has effectively caused nearly 50 percent of patients to be cured.

Actually, after seven years of treatment, 99 percent of nearly 1,000 medically treated patients have been found to be free of the hepatitis C virus