9,000 free condom vending machines set up in Shanghai

SHANGHAI - Shanghai residents, including students and migrant workers, will now be provided free condoms through more than 9,000 vending machines to be set up across this business capital of China.

Condom vending machines will be put up in dormitory buildings, restrooms and laundries “where students can help themselves”, officials from the city’s family planning service said, according to Shanghai Daily.

Local residents can get free condoms at over 9,000 sites across the city, including residential buildings, officials said.

Tang Wenjuan, an official with the Shanghai Health Bureau, said they decided to offer free condoms to meet students’ needs and promote safe sex.

Tang, however, said: “The condoms bought from vending machines (outside the campus) are of a better quality than the free ones, and students can choose themselves.”

Over the past 10 years, the city administration had put up around 3,000 vending machines in the streets to sell condoms at 1 yuan (15 cents) each. But now, many of the machines are broken and covered with rust, and not many people use them, he said.

The administration has also set up over 3,600 condom outlets in areas having high concentration of migrant workers for distributing free contraceptives.

Condoms and other contraceptives were previously given free only to local people holding a permanent residency permit. Migrant workers had to purchase them either at stores or from condom vending machines installed in the city’s streets, China Daily reported Saturday.

Over the past two years, officials have tried to make them more available in areas having migrant communities - like construction sites and railway stations - in an effort to combat HIV/AIDS, said an official at a condom distribution centre, which also dispenses contraceptive pills.

“As a result of the campaign, the number of free contraceptives used by migrant workers has surpassed that of locals,” the official said.

Migrant workers were, however, unsure about the campaign.

Zhu Aiqin, 27, from Anhui province, who works at a local restaurant, said she would not use free condoms, since she could not be sure of their quality, while Xing Dongwei, a 23-year-old security guard, said he would rather purchase them from stores for convenience and to protect his privacy.