Health Experts Say Condom Use Is China's Final Defense Against HIV

"Condom use has become the final and most important defense against AIDS," Wan Shaoping, an official with the Sino-UK STD and HIV/AIDS program, said this week at the Initiative and Training Workshop for Population and Family Planning Sectors in Global Fund HIV/AIDS Program Areas in central China's Henan Province. Sexual activity has become the main route for HIV transmission from high-risk groups, such as sex workers and drug users, to the general population, said Zhao Pengfei, a program officer with the World Health Organization's China office.

Health experts endorsed the introduction of more "100 percent condom use programs" for sex workers. China is carrying out these programs in provinces such as Hubei, Yunnan, and Jiangsu and is planning to bring them to regions like Fujian and Beijing. The programs, using the slogan "No Condom, No Sex," are designed to ensure that condoms are available at sites where commercial sex takes place. However, China is struggling to realize its goal of achieving 80 percent or more condom use in high-risk groups by the end of 2006.

"The key to an adequate AIDS response in China lies in three changes: from policy to action, from pilots to scaling-up program implementation, and from health response to societal involvement," said Zhao.

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