Students in Zhejiang get access to free contraceptives
Print Edition
IN a bid to prevent unwanted pregnancies and curb the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, family planning officials in east China’s Zhejiang Province are installing vending machines that distribute free contraceptives in all 128 colleges and universities.
The machines have already been sited in 10 schools and have proven to be popular, Xinhua news agency reported.
“Students are more open about sex, but they still lack knowledge and awareness of the need to practise safe sex,” said Li Danhe, director of the Zhejiang family planning bureau.
According to provincial figures, a quarter of all unwanted pregnancies involve women under 25, while last year, 104 students were diagnosed with HIV, an increase of 86 percent from 2013, Li said.
Gay men, one of the three groups recognized worldwide as most at risk of contracting HIV, along with sex workers and drug users, account for 40 percent of HIV cases in Zhejiang, he said.
According to official figures, 4 percent of all male university students have engaged in gay sex, though the majority were unaware of the risks involved.
“It’s directly related to the fact that students are sexually active and don’t have a fixed sex partner,” said Yu Min, deputy director of the Zhejiang Disease Control and Prevention Center.
Officials have installed six vending machines in the Xihu District of Hangzhou, the provincial capital, with the two most used being on the Zijingang and Yuquan campuses of Zhejiang University, Xinhua said.
The Zijingang campus has about 20,000 students, and since mid-March its machine has dispensed nearly 1,000 contraceptive devices, mostly to men, it said.
The machine operates 24 hours a day and anyone aged 18 to 60 can get free contraceptives by scanning their ID card, the Xinhua report said.
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