Condom "Painting" Helps Promote Sex Education in China

At the recent fifth Reproductive Health Technology and Products Exhibition in Beijing, the Guilin Latex Factory wanted "to show the public that sex can be beautiful and healthy, not a taboo not openly talked about," said Tao Ran, its manager. Guilin, one of China's leading condom producers, displayed an 18-by 3.5-meter traditional Chinese ink-painting scene that, on closer inspection, was a mosaic made of 60,000 condoms.

"[The condom] is not mysterious," Tao said. "It's just a conventional method to avoid unwanted pregnancy or HIV/AIDS. But sadly, some conservative Chinese still believe it is unsightly and even obscene." "We want the public to view the condom as a common thing and use it correctly," he added.

Gaps in sexual health education leave many Chinese uninformed about contraceptives, said experts. That may partly explain why 13 million abortions are performed annually in China, said Wu Shangchun, an official with the National Population and Family Planning Commission.

"Chinese people are now paying more attention to the quality of life as their living conditions improve," said Zhang Weiqing, chairperson of the China Association for Reproduction Health Industry. "This requires better products and services in the field of reproduction. It also means a huge market potential for the industry." The annual rate of expenditure for products and services related to reproductive health has grown more than 15 percent in each of the past two years, he noted.

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