Brazil's 1st program for the community based distribution of contraceptives is successfully in 30 municipalities in Rio Grande do Norte, a state in Brazil's arid Northeast. Already, over 5000 women have been reached by the program, which is operated by the State Secretariat of Health with technical assistance provided by BEMFAM, and IPPF affiliate, under an agreement signed by the governor of Rio Grande do Norte and BEMFAM. In December, several newspapers reported that the program was in possible violation of a law prohibiting distribution of contraceptives without a prescription. After conferring with the secretary of health and local BEMFAM personnel in Rio Grande do Norte, Dr. Walter Rodrigues, executive director of BEMFAM, declared: "There has been no violation of the law for the simple reason that the program was carried out by the Public Health Secretariat's Department of Maternal and Child Care and under the responsibility of its own doctors." He added that BEMFAM had provided both training and technical assistance. According to Dr. Rodrigues, the matter arose when certain well known groups that oppose family planning took advantage of an opportunity to hinder the development of the program. He also pointed out that the nurses and midwives who dispense the pill obtain a prescription for their patients from a local doctor. Many mayors of the 150 municipalities in Rio Grande do Norte have requested the governor and secretary of health to start the program in their municipality. However, expansion of the new distribution program to additional areas will take place gradually as the number of trained personnel and resources increase. Brazil's President elect General Ernesto Geisel takes office in March. The new president, a Lutheran, will be the 1st Protestant to lead Brazil.
