A nationwide video campaign, with a clip from movie star Jackie Chan, was launched Thursday to promote condom use and raise awareness of AIDS in China.
The campaign is entitled Life is Too Good. It includes three TV clips produced by Ruby Yang and American Thomas Lennon, who won an Oscar last year for their documentary on Chinese children orphaned by AIDS. One video shows Chan saying that while a good movie needs danger, in life it is better to be safe.
The United Nations Development Fund, which is backing the campaign, said hundreds of millions of people will see the advertisements every month over the next year.
A recent report from a joint project by UNAIDS and a committee of the State Council, China's cabinet, found that sex is now the main cause of the spread of the disease in China. It found HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, was moving out of groups considered high risk, such as drug users, and into the general population.
The report estimated about 700,000 people are living with HIV in China, with an estimated 50,000 new cases and 20,000 AIDS-related deaths this year.
The report also found condom use remains low among vulnerable groups, such as gay men and sex workers. About 60 per cent of sex workers do not use condoms every time.
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