GENEVA, June 25 (Xinhua) -- The Swiss government started a campaign on Monday by giving away overall 400,000 condoms, each containing a lottery ticket code, to the public to promote safer sex and raise awareness for HIV prevention.
The campaign, with a slogan of "join in and win", is funded by the Federal Office of Public Health, which invests some two million Swiss francs (about two million U.S. dollars) every year in its "Love Life" HIV prevention campaign. It's also supported by organizations such as the AIDS foundation Switzerland and the Swiss Sexual Health group.
Each of the 400,000 condoms will contain a lottery ticket with a competition code, and participants in the competition can win over 3,500 prices sponsored by various companies nationwide.
However, some of the government's past campaigns have caused waves of controversy over explicit imagery and were deemed by conservative politicians to be too pornographic.
In recent years, the number of reported cases of sexually transmitted infections has grown in Switzerland. Health officials say the growth may largely be down to better testing. Last week, the first officially approved HIV home tests went on sale in Switzerland.
