On Wednesday, Indonesian media reported the government has installed condom vending machines in Jakarta and elsewhere to curb STDs and increase men's role in family planning.

Even if married women are monogamous, they can be infected if their husbands have unprotected sex with other partners, Ipin Husni, spokesperson for the National Family Planning Board, told the Detik.com news agency. NFPB has positioned at least seven condom vending machines in the capital and 25 machines in seven other provinces.

NFPB's campaign has kept an intentionally low profile in order to avoid controversy and misuse of the machines by underage children and students, said Husni. "We don't want people to respond negatively to the launch," he said. "We don't want it to be misused."

The machines have been situated in discreet locations, Husni said. However, that could also be a disadvantage. Of some 20 people Detik asked if they knew where the machines were located, none did.

On World AIDS Day, UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot warned that Indonesia must act quickly to avert an HIV/AIDS epidemic. The country's ministry of health reported that at least 8,000 Indonesians have HIV/AIDS. Papua, Indonesia's easternmost province, has the highest infection rate, at about 19 times higher than other provinces.

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