The Brazilian way.

SINCE THE FIRST WORLD AIDS Day, 20 years ago this December 1, Brazil has gone out of its way to honor victims of the disease. And not just with memori als-like last year's installation of 12,000 red ribbons (above) in Brasilia, the nation's capital-but in enviable social policies. The government offers free treatment to every HIV-positive Brazilian and ensures that drugs are cheap and plentiful by breaking the patents of pharmaceutical companies (a practice protected by the World Trade Organization). Brazil also uses innovative ways to educate its citizens: Public service announcements air prior to screenings of porn movies, and STD information is distributed to participants of Carnaval, a festival with a rather hedonistic reputation. When the Bush administration offered tens of millions of dollars in HIV assistance with the stipulation that the South American nation publicly condemn prostitution, Brazil balked--believing condemnation would discourage sex workers from seeking treatment-and rejected the money. While the United States pushes moralizing (abstinence education) over reality (condoms), U.S. infection rates have remained constant while Brazil's have declined. Something to think about on December 1.