Abstract
Summary: Data on HIV/AIDS, other STDs, and related sexual practices and AIDS prevention measures in Sao Luis, capital of Maranhao state, were collected in MayJuly 1995 using participant-observation fieldwork, including a number of face-toface interviews in addition to archival research, and were updated by correspondence in 1996-1997 and a brief visit in February 1998. In contrast to the continuing severe AIDS epidemic in southern Brazil, public health statistics and public HIV testing recently instituted in Sao Luis suggest that HIV infection has remained largely concentrated among men who have sex with men, as well as a few, though growing number of cases of women evidently infected by such men. However, other STDs are endemic to the region, and could provide an increasing portal of entry for HIV infection. AIDS prevention education programmes have commenced in public schools and elsewhere in Sao Luis, but greater emphasis needs to also be placed on the prevention and treatment of other STDs. As in other regions of Brazil and Latin America, the reportedly common practice of anal sex among heterosexuals also represents a significant yet typically underemphasized risk factor for HIV.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.