Xinhua Insight: China's campus condom giveaway both protects and offends

Public opinion is sharply divided over one Chinese province's decision to give away free condoms on university campuses.

For some, the policy is seen as government-sponsored promiscuity, while for others it is nothing more than a logical and effective public health measure.

Zhejiang Provincial health and family planning commission announced last month that all 128 universities in the province would have free condom dispensing machines installed on their campuses, in an effort to reduce accidental pregnancy and arrest the spread of sexually transmitted infection.

Li Danhe, the commission's head of contraceptive management, said that at least 10 colleges had already installed the commission's dispensers installed and that all universities would have at least one within a year.

The Zijingang Campus of the prestigious Zhejiang University in Hangzhou took the lead by installing a machine in March. It provides contraceptive suppositories, spermicidal gel and condoms and is located in a building at the center of the student accommodation area of the campus.

Anyone aged from 18 to 60 can obtain free contraception by scanning their ID card on the dispenser.

The doctor responsible for maintaining the machine said that over 1,000 boxes of contraceptives had been distributed and the machine was restocked about once a week. "Lunchtime, early evening and night are the peak times for people to fetch the contraceptives and most patrons are students," she said.

Chen Qunfang, in charge of the University's birth control department, said that free contraceptives were previously only available in the department office, and only teachers or university staff ever asked for them. "However, from the machine's records, we can that users of the dispensers are predominantly male students," she said.

PREVENTING DISEASE OR ENCOURAGING SEX?

Installing free condom machines in universities is opposed by people who claim to be protecting what they believe to be traditional social norms, claiming abstinence and premarital virginity are basic Chinese values.

Li Danhe said, "The condom machine has met some strong opposition from those who think it encourages students to have sex."

"Our school's leaders discussed it," said university official in Shaoxing City who demanded anonymity, "but gave up the idea in case parents complained."

At Zhejiang Ocean University where a condom machine has just been installed, a female student -- again demanding anonymity -- told Xinhua that she felt insulted: "It will contaminate the school's atmosphere. Both me and my parents are angry about it!"

"Students are still not independent enough either financially or socially, and cannot handle the responsibilities of premarital sex," opined another anonymous student.

At Zhejiang University contrary opinion was voiced: "Sexual intercourse is not rare in colleges. Since there is no way to stop it, we should protect the students.

"The machine offers easy access to contraception and students will feel less embarrassed than going to a store. This can protect girls from accidental pregnancy."

KNOWLEDGE IS STRENGTH

Li Danhe said, "Free condom machines in schools are neither approval nor encouragement of premarital sex. College students' attitudes toward sexuality and marriage are changing, but they still don't know much about sexual health, nor how to protect themselves."

According to a 2012 poll by Communist Party of China magazine "Xiaokang," 70 percent of over 1,000 respondents said they had had premarital sex, up 30 percent from 1994.

Zhou Ji with the birth control department of Zhoushan City described a recent nationwide rise in unwanted pregnancies, with about a quarter of the victims under 25 years old.

College students fall easy prey to sexually transmitted diseases. Statistics from Zhejiang show 3,327 new cases of HIV/AIDS during the first ten months of 2014, up by 21.2 percent from the previous year. Among them were 104 college students, up 85.7 percent. Medical sources in the province attribute the rise to the students being more sexually active and having more sexual partners.

About 96.5 percent of the 3,327 AIDS cases were sexually transmitted, 40.4 percent through male homosexual practices. "It is estimated that about 4 percent of male college students engage in homosexual acts, and many are unaware of the danger of unprotected sex," said Jiang Jianmin, vice head of Zhejiang disease control center.

In August, the National Health and Family Planning Commission and the Ministry of Education instructed local governments to strengthen AIDS control and prevention in schools. Endi