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India offers safe sex cocktail
November 29, 2004
Hyderbad - India, home to the world's second-largest HIV population, may have
found a perfect cocktail for safe sex - a free condom with every bottle of
alcohol sold at liquor shops.
The southern state of Andhra Pradesh has made it mandatory for liquor shops to
hand out a free condom with every bottle of alcohol they sell from December 1,
the World AIDS Day.
"The new measure is part of an awareness campaign among those who drink about
the dangers of unsafe sex," K. Damayanti, head of the state-run AIDS Control
Society, told Reuters.
The state government would supply the condoms free to shops and distribution
would be monitored, she said.
India has the second biggest HIV population after South Africa, with 5.1
million cases. Experts fear it could soon reach the top slot as knowledge about
the illness is scant.
Andhra Pradesh, a state of 76 million people, has the second highest number of
HIV infections among Indian states with 470,000 cases. The western state of
Maharashtra leads with about 700,000 cases.
Damayanti said many liquor shops in smaller towns in the large farming state
already distributed condoms to customers. The latest move would take the
campaign to cities as well.
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