Condoms on buses to Tibet
Passengers travelling to Tibet by bus will be offered free condoms in an effort to prevent the region's transient population spreading Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Buses leaving Sichuan province for the Tibetan capital of Lhasa are now being supplied with a stock of condoms and pamphlets promoting safe sex.
The project is aimed at promoting the use of condoms among migrant workers, traders and sex workers, who are all considered to be in the high-risk category for sexually transmitted diseases.
An official from the China UK HIV/Aids Prevention and Care Project in Sichuan said the rate of sexually transmitted diseases in the region could be as high as two or three times the national average, which is the primary reason the region had been selected for the pilot project.
Last month organisers began the project by placing pamphlets in buses. Co-ordinators of the condom handout are holding talks with the local government on the possibility of expanding the project to include trains, he added.
