Health authorities in the country's capital have announced plans to install condom vending machines in university campuses across Beijing as a way to control the high rate of HIV/AIDS infection among students.
Xie Hui, the director of the disease control and prevention department of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning, who made this announcement to the press on Wednesday, also revealed that new students in Beijing universities will be given some training on HIV/AIDS prevention.
"We will also help establish student clubs and build a team of volunteers to promote safe sex and HIV/AIDS prevention on campus," Xie said.
Despite China's applauded measures to promote HIV/AIDS prevention, the number of infections in the country has continued to rise. In the first 10 months of 2014, up to 2,935 new infections were recorded in Beijing. Health authorities have noted that gay men and students are the section of the population who are most susceptible to becoming infected with HIV/AIDS.
During a national conference on HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in Beijing last year, Wang Guoqiang, the vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, as well as the head of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, revealed that this year authorities will implement the 2011-2015 Action Plan to control the rate of HIV/AIDS infections in the country.
Last year, Dr. Bernhard Schwartlander, the World Health Organization representative in China, revealed that HIV/AIDS infections in the country were initially caused by the use of infected needles. But officials from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning have revealed that up to 95.3 percent of the new HIV/AIDS infections in the country were caused by unprotected sex.
The decision to install condom vending machines in all universities in Beijing is a controversial one and it has attracted some criticisms. Experts say its success may depend on the ability of the authorities to keep the program active for a long time.