Beijing would install about 1,000 condom vending machines in hotels, bars, universities and on construction sites this month to fight the spread of AIDS.

The machines would dispense condoms for one yuan (US$0.12) each and the quality would be guaranteed, a Beijing Disease Control and Prevention Center official was quoted as saying.

The new machines will supplement 1,700 machines already in the capital, many of which are often out of service or empty. Existing machines would be repaired this month, Guan Baoying, a city health bureau official, said.

China has 840,000 HIV/AIDS cases. The United Nations has warned the number of AIDS victims in China could quickly rise to 10 million if serious steps to fight the epidemic are not taken.

The Chinese Government has kicked off an ambitious anti-AIDS campaign calling for condom use to spread to at least 50 percent of the country��s high-risk populations by the end of next year.

Source: Shenzhen Daily/agencies