Fine at hotels without condoms 

China, hard fight against AIDS

BEIJING – The Chinese province of Zhejiang, on the east coast of the country, will fine hotels that do not offer condoms to their guests. This was announced today by the newspaper Beijing News. The decision was taken to strengthen the fight against AIDS, the newspaper said.

According to the provincial directives, “machines for the automatic distribution of condoms must be installed in all hotels, bars and other public places. Otherwise a fine of 5,000 yuan (500 euros) will be imposed on managers”.

Zhejiang, one of China’s most industrialized provinces, registered 1,859 AIDS cases last year. In the whole country there are over 600 thousand confirmed patients.

March 2, 2007