Beijing hotels told to stock all rooms with condoms

Beijing hotels told to stock all rooms with condoms
BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing, preparing to host the 2008Olympics, has ordered hotels to provide condoms in all bedroomsin a bid to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS after cases ofinfection soared 54 percent in the first 10 months of thisyear.
Announcing the move, the official Xinhua news agency madeno direct reference to the Games, saying only that all theChinese capital's 700 hotels must comply by the end of 2008.
With many thousands of visitors due to crowd into the cityfor the Olympics, which run from August 8 to August 24, everyhotel is likely to be sold out.
While hotel managers must provide condoms for their guests,Xinhua said, they are not required to make a loss. The cityhealth bureau said it was up to them how much to charge.
The State Council (Cabinet) urged local governments lastyear to provide access to condoms in all public places..
Beijing health authorities said this week that the city hadregistered 973 new HIV/AIDS cases between January and October.Needle sharing and unprotected sex were the main sources oftransmission.
State media reported a total of 18,543 new cases ofHIV/AIDS across the country in the first half of this year,close to the total for the whole of 2006
(Reporting by Beijing newsroom, editing by Nick Macfie andRoger Crabb)