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Female-condom maker courts China
The US company that makes the female condom said it is looking to launch its product in China, a country that experts say is facing a potential AIDS risk.
The companies are planning to collaborate with non-governmental groups on a market research program in 2005, according to the company's chief executive, Mary Ann Leeper.
The condom -- the only female-initiated barrier method -- protects against unwanted pregnancy and sexually-transmitted diseases, including the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and AIDS.
The World Health Organisation estimates there are one million people in China living with HIV/AIDS, but Chinese health officials fear that the infection could spread from high-risk groups such as drug users and prostitutes to the mainstream population.
Shao Yiming, chief expert at China's National Centre for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, speaking at a conference in London this month, warned that the epidemic is so complex and fast-moving that "we are projecting that, by 2010, there could be 10 million cases."
The Chicago-based Female Health Company shipped between 12 million and 15 million units in 2003, mostly to Brazil, France, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
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