|
CHINA> Regional
![]() |
|
Shanghai boosts condom coverage to counter HIV/AIDS
By Cao Li (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-02 07:35 SHANGHAI -- Condoms will be available in all entertainment venues in Shanghai within three years, a senior health official said on Sunday.
Xu Jianguang, director of the Shanghai health bureau, said there will be no "blind spots" in the authorities' vision to promote safe sex and counter the spread of HIV/AIDS. By 2011, condoms will be on sale or provided free at every hotel, bar, beauty saloon, massage parlor and KTV outlet across Shanghai, he said. Municipal and district governments will shoulder the cost of the initiative, he said. Last year, the municipal government spent 14.5 million yuan ($2.1 million) on HIV/AIDS prevention, while district governments spent 17 million yuan promoting the use of condoms, Xu said. Leng Guangming, from the Shanghai disease control and prevention center, said: "We have been focusing much of our efforts on the high risk groups that work in the entertainment industry. "We tell them about the benefits of safe sex and give out free condoms, and also answer their questions." By the end of last month, more than 200,000 condoms had been handed out to about 30,000 people working within Shanghai's entertainment industry, the bureau said. Ole Hansen, an advocacy advisor with UNAIDS, told China Daily Monday that giving out free condoms to sex workers had been shown to be effective in reducing the incidence of HIV. He cited similar campaigns held in Thailand and Cambodia. "Providing condoms helps reduce risk, but I don't think it encourages prostitution," he said. Shanghai reported its first HIV case in 1987. By the end of last month, the city had 3,747 people infected with the virus, the health bureau said. In the first 10 months of this year, 736 new cases (602 men and 134 women) were reported, 26 percent more than in the same period of last year, it said. Fifty-nine percent of the infections were attributed to sexual intercourse, the bureau said. In an interview with the Yangtze Evening News yesterday, Professor Kang Laiyi from the disease control and prevention center, said 20 percent of the new cases were a result of sexual intercourse between gay men. This was a significant increase on last year, he said. "Many people suffering from HIV are also well educated," he said. |
丰城市| 京山县| 秦皇岛市| 偏关县| 阿鲁科尔沁旗| 洞头县| 娱乐| 祁阳县| 盘山县| 尼木县| 望江县| 定边县| 富裕县| 锦屏县| 苏州市| 九龙县| 应用必备| 潢川县| 通渭县| 塔河县| 东莞市| 五家渠市| 阜南县| 定陶县| 青神县| 屏边| 岳西县| 威海市| 新蔡县| 綦江县| 砚山县| 中宁县| 三江| 晋州市| 宣化县| 沈阳市| 峡江县| 永修县| 象山县| 绥芬河市| 金山区|