Either Charlie Sheen ('Sheen 'bedded 5,000' women', 'People' column, South China Morning Post, September 21) is the best walking advertisement for condoms, or he is a man at risk. According to research findings, the chance of acquiring a sexually transmitted infection after one unprotected sexual encounter with an infected person is: gonorrhoea 80 per cent, syphilis 40 per cent, HIV (between homosexuals) 10 per cent, HIV (between heterosexuals) one per cent, and the list could go on. Which makes the decision this month by a Hong Kong mall (report headlined, 'Aids show cancelled over condom display', Post, September 7) all the more bizarre - especially if cigarettes are on sale in the mall. Unlike tobacco, condoms actually save lives. Dr JUDITH MACKAY Clear Water Bay