Remote China city lays down the law on condoms

BEIJING, Nov 23 (Reuters) The capital of a remote Chinese province has laid down the law for prostitutes, insisting on 100 percent condom use to stop the spread of AIDS, the China Daily said today.

The programme would bring HIV/AIDS infections under control in Lanzhou, the newspaper quoted Wiwat Rojanapithayakorn, head of the HIV/AIDS team at the World Health Organisation's China office, as saying. Lanzhou is capital of the impoverished northwestern province of Gansu.

''The programme makes condoms compulsory for all sex workers in the city at all times and in every entertainment venue,'' the China Daily said. ''The goal is to reduce HIV/AIDS infections among high-risk people.'' It did not say how the rule would be enforced or how those who ignored it would be penalised.

The number of reported HIV/AIDS cases in China has grown by nearly 30 per cent so far this year, the Health Ministry said yesterday, adding that the virus seemed to be spreading from high-risk groups to the general public.

REUTERS YA PM0906