Vietnam gets first ever condom-vending machine
HANOI - Vietnam unveiled its first ever condom-vending machine as part of a campaign to cut unwanted pregnancies and prevent the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
The machine, which was installed at a "bia hoi" or local pub in Hanoi and attracted a few curious onlookers, came as US Global AIDS Coordinator Randall Tobias visited the communist nation to assess the impact of the disease.
His three-day trip followed last month's decision by US President George W. Bush to add Vietnam to the list of countries eligible for funding to help tackle its emerging HIV/AIDS crisis.
"Vietnam is a country where the epidemic up until about this time has been largely contained in commercial sex workers and intravenous drug users but is on the verge of exploding into the general population," he told reporters.
"In fact, there are some estimates that the rate of increase between the number of persons infected now and the projected number by 2010 for Vietnam could be as many as eight times."
Organizers of the campaign to encourage greater use of condoms said more prophylactic dispensers would be set up in bars, cafes and public toilets across the Vietnamese capital throughout the year.
"Condom vending machines are common in many countries around the world," said Lin Menuhin, the deputy director in Vietnam of the non-governmental organization DKT International, which initiated the project.
"We hope that the initiative will lead to greater acceptance of condoms in the marketplace in Vietnam."
Use of condoms in the Confucian-oriented nation is extremely low, partly due to the stigma associated with buying prophylactics and a perception among males that they degrade their virility.
Consequently, Vietnam has a high abortion rate, and the spread of HIV has soared in recent years.
While the communist nation still has a HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of less then one percent, drug use and unsafe sex has seen rates soar to more than 20 percent among sex workers in major cities, according to the United Nations .
The health ministry estimates that more than 215,000 people have contracted HIV in Vietnam, but only around 80,000 have been diagnosed with the virus. Independent experts say as many as 300,000 could be HIV positive.
Agence France Presse - July 09, 2004.
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