"Through these machines we plan to give more emphasis to safe sex than family
planning," Health Minister of the Pradesh government K.K. Ramachandran told
reporters in the Pradesh capital Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.
The number of HIV-positive cases in the Pradesh is estimated to reach 100,000
and 2,000 were confirmed.
The machines will be set up in places frequented more by men, Ramachandran
said. He himself will inaugurate the first one at the central bus stand in
Thiruvananthapuram.
The project is being launched by the Kerala Condom Promotion Project, which is
managed by the Hindustan Latex Family Planning Promotion Trust with support
from the British Department for International Development.
"Despite the emphasis on the negatives of unsafe sex, condom sales in Kerala
have not increased. Through this initiative we expect to set the ball rolling,"
said N. Ayappan, managing director of Hindustan Latex.
The customer will get two condoms by dropping one Rupee coin in the machine.
