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The government in India's West Bengal State is supporting a programme that offers prostitutes an ancient solution to modern concerns about safe sex.

"Kama Sutra has many postures that can give men the highest pleasure without consummation and that is what the prostitutes are being taught.

"They are learning something very useful," says Rajyashree Choudhuri, chief of the Institute of International Social Development (IISD), who designed the project.

Until now, thousands of Calcutta's sex-workers have tried to force customers to use condoms.

Their powerful organisation, Durbar Mahila Samannoy Samity, has decreed that all their members perform safe sex and customers trying to force sex workers to have intercourse without condoms are thrown out of brothels.

Three hour session

But what happens if a customer refuses to use condoms?

The prostitutes lose business, which they can ill afford.

That is a situation the IISD is teaching them to avoid.

In a conference hall in the posh southern locality of Gariahat, the IISD is running its "safe sex" workshop, with backing from the West Bengal Aids Control Society.

Sex-workers from the city's major red light districts are joining up in droves.

"We will back any programme on safe sex. The number of HIV patients in West Bengal is increasing and we want to control it at any cost," says Sachinanda Sarkar, assistant director of the Aids Control Society.

Last year, 1,137 HIV cases were reported in the state. More than 600 cases have been reported this year. Dozens of prostitutes turn up for the workshop and are taken through the voluminous Kama Sutra, India's most famous ancient treatise on sex.

The training lasts for two to three hours.

"They are specifically taught foreplay and other poses that will give men a high degree of pleasure," said Rajyashree Choudhury.

"We teach the girls the art of ensuring a premature but very satisfying discharge by tactfully avoiding intercourse. The Kama Sutra is a treasure house for all that."

A large percentage of HIV/Aids patients in India acquire the virus through unprotected sex.

By Subir Bhaumik
BBC correspondent in Calcutta

BBC News

A Lincolnshire farmer says beetroot is good for your sex life.
Chris Moore, 43, who has been growing the vegetable for 12 years in Scunthorpe, says it contains high levels of the mineral boron, thought to influence the production of human sex hormones.

He also says it can improve brain function and stop people becoming ill.

Mr Moore made the claim as he and his brother David celebrated being awarded a ?126,000 grant by Defra.

Ancient aphrodisiac

Mr Moore said his curiosity was sparked on holiday in Pompeii, Italy, last year.

"Me and my wife were wandering around, and on the wall of an ancient brothel, I made out a picture of a beetroot," he said.

His subsequent investigations revealed ancient civilizations may have regarded the vegetable as having aphrodisiac properties.

But Mr Moore, voted the Sexiest Farmer in the North of England by the National Farmers' Union three years ago, insisted his findings are not aimed at selling his produce.

"I do grow a bit of beetroot, but I can sell it without this I can assure you," he said.

BBC News

China's official media has reported what is believed to be the first approved marriage between two HIV positive people.

Cao Xueliang, 37, and Wang Daiying, 34, both farmers from Gongmin in the south-western province of Sichuan, were married on Friday in front of more than 200 guests, according to the People's Daily.

The wedding - and its reporting by the official media - was seen as a sign of China's increased willingness to confront the issues surrounding HIV/Aids.

In the wake of criticism over its handling of the Sars epidemic earlier this year, the Chinese Government has been under pressure to become more open in its handling of diseases such as HIV/Aids, which have long been seen as a taboo subject.

The marriage was made possible following a relaxation earlier this year of the country's Maternal and Infantile Health Law, under which couples planning to marry had to pass a series of medical tests.

Those suffering from HIV/Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases, such as syphilis, were barred from getting married.

Blood donor scandal

Cao Xueliang is said to have contracted HIV 10 years ago, when he went to Henan province to sell his blood to a government-sanctioned collection programme.

Wang Diaying's then-husband He Yong also sold his blood at the same time, and has since died of an Aids-related illness after infecting Wang Diaying.

The backstreet blood donations of the 1980s and 1990s infected hundreds of thousands of rural Chinese, particularly in Henan province.

In Gongmin along, more than 60 people have HIV/Aids, and 25 people have already died.

More than a million Chinese people have been officially diagnosed with the disease, although the United Nations has suggested that the real figure could be closer to 1.5m.

Experts warn that up to 10m people could contract HIV/Aids in China by 2010.

BBC News

Directors of a new museum in Vienna are calling on members of the public to donate old condoms and other contraceptive memorabilia.

Founders Susanne Krejsa and Brigitte Oettl said the Museum for Contraception and Abortion still needed articles to go on display.

They are calling on the public to come forward and either donate any objects connected to the topic or provide them with historical information.

Ms Krejsa said: "We are looking for all sorts of articles and information. If you know what sort of contraception your grandparents used, please contact us to contribute to establishing the collection."

The museum, set to open in the Austrian capital, will document the history of contraception and abortion and is looking for gynaecological instruments, models, drawings and information brochures of past times.

Susanne Krejsa said it wasn't clear yet where the museum would be located, but added it would not be long before they had enough exhibits to put on display.

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The UK's advertising watchdog has ruled a billboard poster for a brand of condoms should be removed because it was likely to cause "serious or widespread offence".

The Advertising Standards Authority said it had received four complaints about the poster for Durex's Performa Condoms

The ad featured a number of condoms inflated to create the words "roger more".

Durex's parent company, SSL International, defended the advert, saying the term "to roger" was an "antiquated and comic reference to sex".

They said the poster was "intended to promote safe sex and enjoyment". Performa condoms contain a small amount of cream it is claimed to delay a man's climax.

The poster included the slogan "Made to make you last longer".

'Perplexed'

SSL International said it had been warned by the Committee of Advertising Practice that there may be complaints, but it had not been advised not to use the advert.

The ASA said the poster was not sexist but that the wording was "likely to cause serious or widespread offence".

It rejected a second complaint which said the poster was irresponsible and encouraged people to indulge in casual sex.

John Flaherty, marketing controller for Durex , said: "Whilst we will fully comply with the ASA ruling, we have never believed that advertisements are in any way offensive and we are perplexed by the decision.

"Any outdoor condom advertising will generate some opposition from the minority who believe that condoms should not be advertised.

"Advertising is a commercial activity but we believe that promoting greater use of condoms is also a socially responsible activity."

BBC News

SSL International, the firm behind Durex condoms and Marigold rubber gloves, is being pursued by a potential bidder.

The firm's shares jumped 8% to 335p on Monday, after it admitted it was in talks over a takeover worth £675m ($1.1bn).

According to market rumour, the would-be buyer is Reckitt Benckiser, the world's biggest household cleaning products firm.

Although Reckitt refused to confirm a bid, the Anglo-Dutch firm has long been seen as a suitor for SSL, ahead of other potential buyers such as Kimberly-Clark and private equity investors.

Out of the muddle

Analysts have seen SSL as a takeover target for years.

The company is seen as in something of a strategic muddle, with interests sprawling across specialist and consumer healthcare sectors.

It was formed by a three-way merger between Seton Healthcare, footwear specialists Scholl and London International Group.

The firm announced in March that it planned to sell its medical division, a possible sign that it is tightening its focus on consumer markets.

Although analysts have welcomed this, they have also warned that too many sell-offs will leave the firm small and vulnerable to stronger competitors.

BBC News

The authorities face an uphill struggle in some parts of India as they battle to control Aids by promoting condom usage.

With India having the second highest number of HIV infections after South Africa, the government has launched several nationwide programmes to promote condom use.

One of the hotspots for transmission of the disease is in Bombay, where nearly 6,000 prostitutes and sex workers live in just one red-light area, Kamathipura.

Many prostitutes in the area - and in other parts of India - are struggling to survive and do not rate use of condoms as a priority.

These women live in utter squalor, many come from poor backgrounds and offer their services for less than a dollar per hour. If a client is willing to give them more money, they readily agree to not use a condom

Dr Shilpa Merchant has been working with these sex workers for the past 12 years and says the message of safe sex and consistent condom usage is still to catch on.

"The social situation is such that for her, the next meal is more important than getting HIV positive and then dying a few years later.

"It's not an immediate problem for her, it's not an immediate concern and that's an issue, because getting money from a client is more important for survival and if he is willing to pay more, she is willing to take that - to not use condoms."

Increased awareness

Some prostitutes are getting the message.

One who had been a sex worker for 18 years said: "I always use a condom and even if a client doesn't want me to use one, even if he offers me more money, I refuse to entertain him."

Although there has been an increased awareness about AIDS, it has not translated into big business for the condom manufacturers.

Sales have actually dipped in the last two years and continue to fall.

According to a survey done by an Indian research company, condom sales have dropped by 5% in the last year alone.

Troubling factor

Vinayak Sukhtankar, who works for a condom company, said Indians associate condoms with unwanted pregnancy instead of AIDS prevention.

"One of the things that has been revealed in the last two surveys is I think about 85% of the customers still [just] use a condom for preventing pregnancy.

"So I am not so sure how much impact has been caused by the Aids campaign.

"But it is also a troubling factor because if you are saying that less that 10% of the people are using it for that purpose, well then there is an opportunity. But somehow it is not getting converted into sales, the way we see it."

An advert promoting condoms is currently being shown on Indian television, but issues of sex and condoms continue to remain a taboo in most Indian homes.

By Monica Chadha (BBC reporter in Bombay)
BBC News

The HIV virus is becoming increasingly resistant to drug treatments, researchers have warned.

A study of 1,600 patients across Europe found one in 10 patients who have never taken antiretroviral drugs for HIV already had a resistance to at least one of them.

Researchers suggest this can only have happened through HIV-positive patients who are taking the medications infecting others with a drug-resistant strain.

They warn that if these strains of HIV continue to spread, it will limit the drugs doctors can use to treat the virus.

The researchers recommend patients diagnosed with HIV who became infected in Europe should be tested to see if they have a drug-resistant strain.

Widespread

The study looked at how resistance was developing in different strains of HIV.

When all the patients were examined, it was found that 10% had drug-resistant HIV. But when researchers looked more closely, they found rates differed depending on what type of HIV people were infected with.

The research, which looked at HIV patients in 17 European countries, found drug-resistance in 11.3% in patients infected with HIV subtype B.

This type of HIV is much more common in Europe and North America.

Non-B HIV is more widespread in Africa and Asia, though it is spreading to Europe due to migration.

But researchers found resistance levels of just 3.3% in those with non-B HIV.

The international team of scientists behind the study say this difference is due to the fact drugs for the 'European' strain have been available for longer, so resistance has had time to develop.

Blocking

Jack Summerside, health promotion manager at the Terrence Higgins Trust said: "This research highlights the necessity of ensuring that people with HIV have the necessary knowledge and skills to avoid passing HIV on to others, especially if they have a drug-resistant strain.

"It should not be seen as a rallying cry to name, shame and further stigmatise people with HIV."

Scientists are working to tackle the development of drug-resistant HIV strains.

This month, pharmaceutical company Roche launched their drug Fuzeon in the UK. The drug is specifically aimed at patients who are not responding to existing treatments. It works by blocking the virus and stopping it from entering healthy immune cells. Other drugs attack the virus when it is inside these cells.

The research was presented to the International Aids Conference in Paris.

BBC News

A global shortage of condoms is hampering efforts to stop the spread of Aids, according to experts.

An estimated one billion condoms were provided free of charge to people in the developing world last year.

However, experts attending a major Aids conference in Paris said the figure falls far short of what is needed.

They have also warned that the situation will get even worse unless governments are prepared to cough up more funding.

Billions of condoms

A survey by Population Action International, a US-based pressure group, suggests that eight billion condoms are needed every year in the developing world.

They said this was eight times the number currently supplied. However, they have also predicted that demand for condoms is set to jump over the next few years, rising to 18 billion by the end of the decade.

They told delegates at the conference that the failure to make more condoms available to people in the developing world is harming efforts to tackle the spread of Aids. They urged governments to provide extra money and to ensure billions of extra condoms are delivered to those countries that most need them.

Aurorita Mendoza, prevention and vulnerability adviser at the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) backed that view.

"There is certainly a condom gap," she told BBC News Online. "It is a supply issue. "But we would estimated that between six and nine billion condoms are distributed annually. "However, between eight and 24 billion condoms are actually needed."

Ms Mendoza said the problem could be resolved with extra money.

"More government funding is needed and we need more support from the international community," she said. "We also need to ensure those people who are at risk have access to condoms. "Condoms are to date the most effective device for preventing HIV. "If condoms are not made available to the most vulnerable groups then we will not be able to control HIV."

A spokeswoman for Oxfam UK said: "The imperative is to increase funding and with these funds to promote the use of condoms.

"But it is also very important to give people a choice so that we are not saying condoms rather than abstinence or abstinence rather than condoms. "People should be able to choose."

BBC News