It comes in a purple and mustard-yellow package, with a message aimed squarely at anyone having sex in the nation's capital, and today the city will dispense 250,000 of these DC-branded condoms during a massive giveaway.
In a single morning, the kickoff distribution to groups working on the front line of HIV/AIDS will almost equal the number of condoms supplied by the D.C. Health Department in 2005 and 2006 combined. The agency wants to hand out 1 million by year's end, making the small package the most visible element of the District's efforts to reverse epidemic levels of the virus.
"It's overdue -- tangible proof we're doing something good for public health," said Gregg A. Pane, director of the department,
With condoms one of the most effective ways of preventing the spread of HIV, Pane hopes that they will be placed prominently and accessibly not only in government buildings, health clinics and social service agencies but also in barbershops, nightclubs, convenience stores and other locations.
"We want to go places we haven't gone before," Pane said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/15/AR2007021501661.html