Saying it's a bid to stop the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases and the AIDS virus, the People's Republic of China debuted condom advertisements on television this week.
The state-run news agency Xinhua reported the development Monday, with the ad having begun Sunday night on China Central Television Channel 1 - which reportedly has a viewership in the hundreds of millions.
Xinhua reported the condom ad was aimed at showing condoms as a safe, convenient, and effective way to block AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases, says the Associated Press.
The PRC has been trying to cut population growth since the late 1970s, but public discussion of sex and contraceptives has been very rare, a reflection of traditional Chinese social mores. Government and health officials have backed promoting condom use in recent years despite local police in some parts of the country blocking efforts to make condoms available at hotels or in stores, claiming they would only encourage prostitution.
An estimated 400,000 people are said to be infected with HIV, the virus which triggers AIDS, in the PRC. Most of those cases are said to involve intravenous drug users.
