July 2003

Swiss Withdraw AIDS Education Ads

In April the Swiss health ministry withdrew two HIV/AIDS education advertisements that promoted condom use in order to avoid upsetting the country’s Catholic bishops, Reuters Health reported. The posters are part of a nationwide campaign to stop the spread of HIV in the country, where the number of new cases increased by 25% last year. Health ministry spokesperson Sandra Meier said that the ads were pulled because the language was inaccurate, not because the ads offended Catholics. Juerg Schaub, who designed the posters, said the ads were intended to get people talking about AIDS again. A spokesperson for the Swiss Bishops Conference said that the church does not condemn condom use to stop HIV transmission but that fidelity is the “best protection.”