Here’s one way to raise HIV awareness: Place a 60-foot pink condom over a monument smack-dab in the middle of a city center. That’s what the AIDS Council of New South Wales (ACON) did in Sydney, Australia, the Guardian reports.
The condom covers an obelisk that stands in a highly trafficked area of Hyde Park. A message on the pink prophylactic reads: “Test more + test early + stay safe = ending HIV.” The stunt is part of an awareness campaign by ACON, which focuses on LGBT health issues and HIV/AIDS.
ACON’s Nicholas Parkhill said that despite better meds to help treat HIV, condoms remain an important part of HIV prevention, particularly among gay men. “We need to constantly find new ways to promote this message,” he said, “especially in the lead-up to World AIDS Day on December 1.”
Of course, some people found the display inappropriate for a public space, where children can see it.
Although condom use among gay men in New South Wales is high, the number of men “not always” using condoms has increased 20 percent in the past 15 years. What’s more, 80 percent of new HIV transmissions in that region are among gay men.
Sydney is the capital of New South Wales (Canberra is the capital of Australia). As Parkhill pointed out, Sydney is a hub of gay life and as such is an appropriate place to make a statement about HIV awareness.
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