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Last Updated: Aug 21, 2008 - 11:51:13 AM |
"I wanted to link business with a message for sexually active people,"
Bellissima's owner, Hayat Ahmed, 26, told IRIN/PlusNews. "I am the
brand ambassador for 'Sensation' condoms in Ethiopia, and I want to
spread the message that condoms can protect you from HIV/AIDS."
Hayat, a former beauty queen, has been involved in HIV/AIDS campaigns
since she was crowned Miss Ethiopia in 2003 and subsequently named an
HIV/AIDS ambassador.
Her face adorns billboards and she regularly appears on Ethiopia's only
television station promoting condom use. "When I walk down the road
even children recognise me," she said. "But they do not call me Hayat;
they call me 'Sensation'."
Modelled on 'condom bars' in Asia, Bellissima handed out six boxes of
condoms, each containing 48 packets of three-in-a-pack, within two days
of opening its doors.
The free condoms have elicited mixed reactions, with older patrons
tending not to like the idea, while younger ones love it and sometimes
ask for a second packet.
"We have had young people come in and ask 'Is it true that you actually
give free condoms?' and when we say, 'yes', their faces brighten up and
they quickly order," said one waiter. "But we have also had people who
get shocked when we bring the bill with a condom, some saying we are
promoting immorality."
Guests do not have to take the packs home when they leave the
restaurant. "It is your choice to take it or leave it," Hayat said. "We
also plan to set up condom vending machines in the toilets."
Her campaign is supported by social marketing groups such as the
non-profit organisation, DKT-Ethiopia, which sold almost 60 million
condoms in 2007 and also launched a coffee-flavoured version of
Sensation condoms. Ethiopia is widely thought to be the birthplace of
coffee and is drunk nationally.
Hayat intends to open more cafés in the capital and other towns, and
continue promoting various anti-HIV strategies, including abstinence
and faithfulness. She might even expand the 'condom bars' concept to
other African countries.
"A lot of people in Ethiopia are ashamed of talking about or using
condoms," said. "Yet some companies put condoms in their toilets and
when you go to look, each day, the boxes are empty. I don't care if the
condoms are used behind closed doors or in public - as long as many
people use them."
Ethiopia's HIV prevalence is estimated at over two percent among
sexually active people aged 15 to 49. A report by the Federal HIV/AIDS
Prevention and Control Office in March noted that between 2000 and
2005, condom use among males increased from 30.3 percent to 51.9
percent, and among females from 13.4 percent to 23.6 percent.
According to Ethiopian government data, half the public sector
institutions and 20 percent of private businesses have mainstreamed
HIV/AIDS prevention in their operational policies.
However, Philopos Petros, head of the Ethiopian Civil Service College's
HIV/AIDS management unit, noted that "There are still educated people
exposed to HIV and dying of AIDS," and said greater awareness was
necessary.
"One person cannot change the world, but I want to make a
contribution," Hayat said. "I have a name and the will, and I will use
that
Source:Ocnus.net 2008
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