The BBC World Service Trust India has launched a new safer-sex ring tone that sings “Condom, condom!” to eliminate HIV/AIDS stigma and make condom use more socially acceptable, The Associated Press reports.
The a cappella ring tone—which chants the word “condom” more than 50 times—has been downloaded 60,000 times since its August 8 debut.
“We’ve made a conscious effort to move the concept of the condom away from negative association, like HIV and sex work,” said Yvonne MacPherson, country director of the BBC group funded by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “A ring tone is a very public thing. It’s a way to show you are a condom user and you don’t have an issue with it.”
According to the AP, nearly 2.5 million people in India are living with HIV/AIDS.
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Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
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Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
