Lilith
10-08-2007, 03:28 PM
(gg)
By NoppornWong-Anan
BANGKOK (Reuters Life!) - A Thai bank is pitching intothe battle against HIV/AIDS and handing out condoms tocustomers too shy to get them at the shop. Despite Bangkok's reputation as one of the world's sexindustry centers, Thailand is a generally conservativecountry. Kasikorn Bank launched the "Condoms for Confidence"campaign at 600 branches nationwide and said it wouldstart giving out the sheaths, branded K-Condom andK-Excellence, later this month. "HIV/AIDS is returning to Thailand since thegovernment awareness campaign started 20 years ago hasfizzled out," said a bank spokesman who declined to beidentified. "We want the teenagers to be aware of the problem." Despite a tenfold plunge of overall new HIV/AIDS casesfrom 15 years ago, the health ministry has said it wasconcerned about the numbers of teenagers andhomosexuals still being infected. Disease Control Department chief Thawat Suntrajarnsaid embarrassment about buying condoms and ignorancein using them were the main causes of the new cases. "Research papers from all sorts of agencies have aconsensus that many condom users are embarrassed tobuy condoms from counters," Thawat told Reuters. "Women who buy condoms from convenience stores alwaysget a strange look from people, so condom handouts area good way to avoid such embarrassment." New HIV/AIDS cases in Thailand, once praised byinternational health agencies for its aggressivecampaign to tackle the epidemic, had fallen to 13,000in 2006 from more than 100,000 a year in early 1990s,Thawat said. But the worrying sign was that many of the newpatients were teenagers and homosexual men, notheterosexual men in their 30s and prostitutes as inthe past, he added. A Health Ministry-commissioned survey last year showed48 percent of 5,712 male high school students usedcondoms. About 43 percent of 7,712 female high school studentssaid their sex partners used condoms, it said. Spurred by the findings, Thawat's department isrunning a television advertisement encouraging peopleto buy condoms despite criticism from conservativeswho argue it encourages teenagers to be sexuallyactive. "Even those bank customers who don't need to use thecondoms, they can pass them on to their families orfriends," he said.
By NoppornWong-Anan
BANGKOK (Reuters Life!) - A Thai bank is pitching intothe battle against HIV/AIDS and handing out condoms tocustomers too shy to get them at the shop. Despite Bangkok's reputation as one of the world's sexindustry centers, Thailand is a generally conservativecountry. Kasikorn Bank launched the "Condoms for Confidence"campaign at 600 branches nationwide and said it wouldstart giving out the sheaths, branded K-Condom andK-Excellence, later this month. "HIV/AIDS is returning to Thailand since thegovernment awareness campaign started 20 years ago hasfizzled out," said a bank spokesman who declined to beidentified. "We want the teenagers to be aware of the problem." Despite a tenfold plunge of overall new HIV/AIDS casesfrom 15 years ago, the health ministry has said it wasconcerned about the numbers of teenagers andhomosexuals still being infected. Disease Control Department chief Thawat Suntrajarnsaid embarrassment about buying condoms and ignorancein using them were the main causes of the new cases. "Research papers from all sorts of agencies have aconsensus that many condom users are embarrassed tobuy condoms from counters," Thawat told Reuters. "Women who buy condoms from convenience stores alwaysget a strange look from people, so condom handouts area good way to avoid such embarrassment." New HIV/AIDS cases in Thailand, once praised byinternational health agencies for its aggressivecampaign to tackle the epidemic, had fallen to 13,000in 2006 from more than 100,000 a year in early 1990s,Thawat said. But the worrying sign was that many of the newpatients were teenagers and homosexual men, notheterosexual men in their 30s and prostitutes as inthe past, he added. A Health Ministry-commissioned survey last year showed48 percent of 5,712 male high school students usedcondoms. About 43 percent of 7,712 female high school studentssaid their sex partners used condoms, it said. Spurred by the findings, Thawat's department isrunning a television advertisement encouraging peopleto buy condoms despite criticism from conservativeswho argue it encourages teenagers to be sexuallyactive. "Even those bank customers who don't need to use thecondoms, they can pass them on to their families orfriends," he said.