Commercial Sex Workers in India Trained To Use Female Condoms

Commercial sex workers in Kolkata, India -- formerly known as Calcutta -- during a three-day training program were shown how to use female condoms to prevent HIV transmission, officials said on Tuesday, Agence France-Presse/GG2.net reports. About 5% of sex workers in Kolkata brothels are HIV-positive and HIV/AIDS advocates say that awareness about the virus among sex workers is low. The program -- which was started in West Bengal, the capitol of Kolkata, and is the first of its kind in India -- next year will be launched in 29 states across the country, according to Agence France-Presse/GG2.net. Under the program, sex workers will be able to purchase female condoms, which normally cost about $1, for about six cents each, officials said. "The condom for women can be of great help to sex workers. It will help them to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases," Anjali Narayam, deputy director of West Bengal's AIDS control program, said (Agence France-Presse/GG2.net, 12/19).