Feb 14, 2007 11:26 am US/Central
NYC To Hand Out Free Condoms On Valentine's Day
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
If you need to buy flowers or chocolate for your Valentine on Wednesday, you're on your own. The condoms, however, are free -- courtesy of New York City.
Taking advantage of the holiday for lovers, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration was to unveil the official city condom in midtown Manhattan, where volunteers were to hand them out free at Fifth Avenue and 50th Street.
The health department's condom program already distributes 1.5 million free condoms each month, but the regular wrapper doesn't allow for tracking the effectiveness of the effort. Officials hope that will change with the new design, which is said to revolve around a subway theme, with different colors for the various train lines.
Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden recently told The Associated Press that the distinctive wrapper will provide the opportunity to include questions about the condom on the city's annual health survey.
"We ask, 'Did you use a condom the last time you had sex?' And once this is launched, the next time we ask that question, of those people who say yes, we'll say, 'What did the wrapper look like?"' Frieden said. "And if they describe our wrapper, then we'll know that they would have used our condom."
The city negotiated a deal with the maker of the LifeStyles brand for 4 cents per condom, putting the expense to the city at just $720,000 annually, health officials said.
More than 100,000 of New York's 8.2 million residents are living with HIV or AIDS, and Bloomberg has been focused on reducing those rates and overall instances of sexually transmitted diseases.
The condom launch was to take place at the Kenneth Cole store, where the clothing company also planned to unveil a T-shirt and boxer shorts to complement the campaign.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
