France To Make 10M Reduced-Price Condoms Available in Hospitals, Social Venues

The French government on Monday announced that it plans to make 10 million reduced-cost condoms available in 20,000 outlets nationwide by early next year in an effort to curb the spread of HIV, AFP/Yahoo! News reports. The 25 cent condoms will be available in hospitals, nightclubs, movie theaters, high schools, pharmacies, newsstands and tobacco shops. According to Health Minister Xavier Bertrand, the condom campaign aims to ensure that safer-sex practices become a "reflex" among the country's population. According to the Institut de Veille Sanitaire, France recorded 6,700 new HIV cases in 2005, compared with 7,000 new cases in 2004. More than half of the new cases in 2005 were transmitted through heterosexual intercourse, and one-quarter occurred among men who have sex with men. Two percent of new cases occurred among injection drug users, and 57% of new cases occurred among women, according to AFP/Yahoo! News. France has recorded a total of 150,000 HIV cases and 29,000 AIDS cases (AFP/Yahoo! News, 11/27).