A.I.D.S. advice for Aust, cinema patrons

Press, 14 January 1986, Page 34

A.I.D.S. advice for Aust, cinema patrons

NZPA staff correspondent Sydney The New South Wales Government is taking the fight against A.LD.S. into the state’s cinemas, with a series of advertisements promoting the use of condoms. Indoor and drive-in cinema-goers in Sydney, Newcastle, and Wollongong wil see a series of cartoons promoting condoms as a means of reducing the spread of A.LD.S. The campaign, launched by the New South Wales Health Department, will also publicise the A.LD.S. Hotline, a recorded telephone service which tells callers condoms are cheap, readily available, and as well as being an almost failsafe contraceptive, offer a high level of protection against A.I.D.S. The department’s chief

medical officer, Dr Tony Adams, said that the advertisements targeted men and women aged 18 to 25, but the Government wanted to persuade everyone that condoms should be used as a protection against sexually transmitted diseases.

“The use of condoms is our major weapon in combating the spread of A.LD.S. now that we have sealed off the risk of transmitting A.LD.S. through the blood transfusion service,” he said.

The ?66,000 six-month cinema promotion comes after changes to regulations permitting the advertising of condoms, and is a forerunner to an intensive statewide “condom awareness” radio campaign. The department is also dispensing free condoms through clinics in the state treating sexually transmitted diseases.