ROME, Dec 2 (AFP) - Italy's Health Minister Umberto Veronesi denounced the "general hypocrisy" in the country over AIDS prevention in an interview with the Reppublica newspaper on Saturday.

He was speaking out after a week in which his own Prime Minister Giuliano Amato distanced himself from Veronesi's support for the controlled distribution of heroine.

And on Friday, World AIDS Day, the Vatican reiterated its opposition to the free availability of condoms -- something Veronesi backs -- advocating instead sexual abstinence to fight the disease.

He said he had taken up his job at a difficult time, what with the Jubilee celebrations marking 2000 years of Christianity and the government's electoral setbacks.

In that context, he said, it was difficult to tackle certain issues with serenity and pragmatism and to maintain a secular line.

"The politicians are more interested in electoral consensus than the health of its citizens," Veronesi told the paper.

"I could have adapted to the worrying atmosphere, to the general hypocrisy, and restrict myself to cutting ribbons. But in that case, it would have been better to stay at home," he said.

Amato's centre-left government appointed Veronesi, a well known cancer specialist with no political affiliation, as health minister last April.

Veronesi backs distributing condoms and controlling the distribution of heroine as a more realistic approach to tackling AIDS than advocating celibacy or trying to stamp out hard drug use.

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