The legendary Thai senator Mechai Viravaidya has unaccompanied written the Thailand’s success story of fight against AIDS. By applying many innovative ideas to spread awareness among the people in Thailand, he had made condoms a fashion in Thailand. He has been called as ‘Mr Condom’ in the country.
The success story of Thailand’s own Mr Condom’ has inspired India also to find out the India’s own Mr. Condom to create such kind of awareness in the country. According to the report, India’s National Aids Control Programme chief K Sujatha Rao had visited Thailand to study the success story of Mechai. Now, she has decided to find a man who will be India’s Mr Condom.
Mechai Viravaidya inspired traffic police, Santas and toll-booth operators to distribute condoms in the different parts of the nation. He had even hired farmers to spray-paint condom ads on their cows.
Sujatha rao said that the Indian ‘Condom’ man will have to be show great passion to create greater awareness for AIDS and will have to break the stigma surrounding sex in India. She said that Most of India’s AIDS epidemic is caused by sex.
As the multi-partner sex will be practiced, the HIV virus will continue to spread fast. The use of condoms will work as the single blockade to control the epidemic in India.
Sujatha Rao wants Indian condom man to be as passionate as Mechai is for the cause. He will have to work on one point agenda to inspire leaders for promoting condom use. On the footsteps of Mechai, the Indian condom man will also have to devise and implement imaginative condom promotion techniques to make the people aware.
She said further that he has to have a dynamic personality to change both government policy and public perceptions about HIV, AIDS, sex and condoms. She said at the end:
We are serious about finding India’s very own Mr Condom.
According to the report, the ministry of health is ready to launch promotion program for condom usage in India. For that, NACO is all set to establish a separate 10-member condom cell that would have recruits from India’s top business schools such as IIMs. The cell would work for making strategies for condom promotion and social marketing in India at effective level.
