BRASILIA, April 7 (Reuters) - The Brazilian government began producing condoms on Monday using rubber from trees in the Amazon, a move it said would help preserve the world's largest rainforest and cut dependence on imported contraceptives given away to fight AIDS.
Brazil's first government-run condom factory, located in northwestern Acre state, will produce 100 million condoms a year, the health ministry said in a statement.
The latex comes from the Chico Mendes reserve, named after a conservationist and rubber tapper killed in 1988 by ranchers. The government says the condoms would be the only ones made of latex harvested from a tropical forest.
Environmentalists say tapping native rubber trees helps generate income for Amazon residents and reduces pressure to fell trees. More than 550 families will earn a total of 2.2 million reais ($1.3 million) annually producing condoms, the ministry said.
The intention is also to reduce Brazil's dependence on imported condoms, which are distributed free as part of a national program to combat AIDS.
The government says it is the world's largest single buyer of condoms. It purchased 1 billion this year to be distributed over the next two years, a health ministry spokesman said.
The Roman Catholic Church has frequently criticized the government's distribution of condoms. (Reporting by Raymond Colitt; Editing by Eric Walsh)
A fisherman rows his boat along the Songhua River at sunrise in the northern Chinese city of Harbin, Heilongjiang Province April 8, 2008. Drought parching parts of northern China will continue ...
