By V. Krishnaswamy. Beijing, China, 06:02 PM IST

More than 400,000 condoms and some 250,000 copies of the AIDS prevention pamphlet have been placed in hotel rooms across Beijing. A quarter of the condoms, 100,000, were allocated to the Olympic Village, he said.

The free condoms and leaflets have been distributed throughout the Olympic Village and hundreds of Beijing hotels in a bid to promote awareness of the disease, according to the city's health chief who held a press conference Friday.

Since their first Olympic appearance at the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, France, free condoms have become a regular feature of the global sports event.

Beijing has a comprehensive network, comprising 69 clinics and 128 laboratories, for reporting and monitoring HIV and AIDS in the city. In the first half of the year, 489 new cases of HIV/AIDS were reported in the city, down slightly on the same period last year, he said.

By V. Krishnaswamy (Staff Writer, © IANS)