Mandatory condom-use for Lanzhou sex-workers

LANZHOU: Lanzhou, the capital of Northwest China's Gansu Province, has created a 100 per cent Condom Use Programme (CUP) for entertainment places in an effort to stop HIV/AIDS spreading from high-risk people to the general public through sexual contact.

The programme makes condoms compulsory for all sex-workers in the city at all times and in every entertainment venue. The goal is to reduce HIV/AIDS infections among high-risk people.

"Increasing condom use at entertainment places will bring sexual contact-based HIV/AIDS infections under control and prevent the further spread of the fatal disease," said Wiwat Rojanapithayakorn, head of the HIV/AIDS team at the World Health Organization's China office, at a CUP promotional meeting on Tuesday in Lanzhou.

Wang Xiaoming, the deputy head of the provincial health authority, said there were 300 reported HIV/AIDS cases in Gansu Province, though the actual number is estimated to be 2,000. Of the total, 40 per cent contracted the disease through drug abuse, and 30 per cent through unsafe sexual contact.

CUP was initiated in Thailand and has since been adopted in other Asian nations after demonstrating its effectiveness in controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS.

The programme is a joint effort by the Chinese Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization. It has been implemented on a trial basis in Hubei Province's Wuhan City, Jiangsu Province's Jingjiang City, Hainan Province's Danzhou City and Hunan Province's Lixian County.

Gansu has implemented the programme in Jiayuguan and Dunhuang cities as well as in Lanzhou's Anning District. As the programme expands to other areas of the provincial capital, the relevant departments will sign health education protocols with owners and managers of all entertainment places and provide them with publicity materials and free condoms.

Data from the Ministry of Health show that the number of reported HIV/AIDS cases grew to 183,733 nationwide this year, up nearly 30 percent from 144,089 at the end of last year. If those who are unaware that they carry the HIV virus are taken into account, the number of cases in China is likely to be around 650,000, according to estimates by experts from the United Nations and the Ministry of Health.

Source: China Daily