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U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
News Briefs
Papua New Guinea Launches Patriotic Condoms to Fight AIDS
September 20, 2002 Papua New Guinea has launched its own brand of condoms in its latest attempt to fight HIV. Papua New Guinea's National AIDS Council said the new "Karamap," or "cover-up" condoms would form part of a new awareness campaign about the disease. "Now there is a condom especially for us, the people of Papua New Guinea," the advertisement says. Karamap is the pidgin word for cooked food that has been wrapped in leaves. National AIDS Council Director Ninkama Moiya said there are plans to make 2.4 million of the condoms, which would be free in health centers and 50 cents for a pack of three elsewhere. Though the country reported only 4,792 cases of HIV/AIDS in a populace of 5.1 million, Moiya said incidence was grossly under-reported - particularly in remote areas of the largely rural country. AIDS campaigners also face a hard time convincing Papua New Guineans to practice safe sex. A recent survey by the AIDS council found that 97 percent of the population know about AIDS, but few use condoms regularly.
Excerpted from:Back to other CDC news for September 20, 2002 Australian Associated Press 09.13.02; Jim Baynes This article was provided by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is a part of the publication CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update. |