Sex Education in Brazil: The Right To A Healthy Life

Today’s post comes to us from Fabíola Capalbo, Account Executive at GLOBALHealthPR Brazil partner, Tino Comunicação.

As the only communications agency in Brazil dedicated exclusively to healthcare and quality of life, we strongly believe in the importance of expanding projects and partnerships to promote healthy behaviors.

One of these proud partnerships promotes sexual health and encourages positive behaviors among Brazilian youth. As with other countries, in Brazil there is a need for sexual education, which empowers young people to protect themselves against a broad range of public health concerns. These include sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, unintended pregnancies, abuse and exploitation, as well as to remain safer for a healthy sexual life.

With that in mind, last month we united with Durex, the world’s leading condom brand, and Kaplan Institute, a non-governmental organization specialized in sexual responsibility, to launch a sexual education program designed for teenagers in public schools. The exhibition, dubbed “Inside the Condom,” was the starting point of a project that attracted widespread public and media attention. 

How did we draw attention to this important subject? A giant inflated condom 15 meters long was installed in Ibirapuera Park, one of the most recognizable locations in São Paulo, to motivate understanding and prevention from sexually transmitted diseases through road show exhibitions. Led by Kaplan’s staff, participants were invited to demystify the myths surrounding the use of condom in a playful and colorful way. The project’s next step is to train teachers as agents of prevention in public schools across Brazil.

What results did we achieve? The program was met with great acceptance from the press. The major local radio, television, magazines, online and printed newspapers such as Folha de São Paulo, Globo News, Rádio Bandeirantes and TV Cultura were present at the press conference and produced very positive coverage overall.  This is only the beginning of a long term sex education project and partnership that will enable communication and understanding on the real rights and needs of young people. We believe sex education can promote open dialogue about sexual values while providing specific training for teachers to generate information that all adolescents need to make the right choices from early age to the rest of their lives.