KABUL, May 3 (AFP) - In the country which gave birth to the Taliban movement and where Islam rules supreme, a small revolution is taking place. Next week an aid agency will begin a major condom campaign in conservative Afghanistan -- without using the word 'sex'.
The Washington-based social marketing group Population Services International (PSI) has already begun to distribute about 1.6 million 'Number One' condoms for sale at the subsidised price of one Afghani (2 US cents) in the pharmacies and grocery stores of five major cities.
The project which began quietly in January in the Afghan capital Kabul has already been a success, organisers say.
But they face their biggest challenge when they begin a "culturally adapted" public awareness campaign next week with radio spots, sponsorships and billboards advertising their birth control product.
"Nearly 400,000 condoms have been sold in four months," said PSI's Andrew Miller, explaining that the project answered a demand for condoms in Afghanistan.
But because of the cultural context "we must, however, adopt a soft approach so as not to offend Afghan sensitivities," he said.
Although no longer bound by the fundamentalist dictates of the Taliban, Afghan society remains profoundly conservative and sexually repressive. Sexual relations remain a taboo subject.
Prophylactics first appeared in Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion of the 1980s. Today they are widely available in most drug stores but are little used -- and always hidden.
The PSI awareness campaign will be suitably modest -- the condoms for sale will not be flavoured, perfumed, textured or labelled "extra fine".
'Number Ones' will be sold in navy cardboard packs of three with bright yellow writing devoid of sexual references. Only the "1" of the 'Number One' name evokes a vague phallic symbol, or so say the marketers, otherwise the packaging could be that of lollies, batteries or motor oil.
"It has been a real headache to translate the instructions (inside the packet) and to design packaging which doesn't shock," said Emmanuel de Dinechin of Altai Consulting which advised on the product.
"Afghans' ignorance about sexuality is abysmal, the work of educating them is immense," he added.
And not without cultural barriers. For example it would be unthinkable to use a diagram to illustrate how to put on a condom. Or to directly translate into local languages Dari and Pashto instructions issued with condoms in Western countries. Some words -- like 'sex' -- are simply not acceptable.
"For the publicity campaign, we must use very neutral slogans," said Miller.
PSI abandoned their initial slogan -- "Have a smaller family" -- as unsuitable for the country where a woman is expected to have five or six babies.
The more vague, "Have a more comfortable life, make your family Number One" will be used instead.
"This will be discreet marketing but at the same time very widespread, Afghans will become familiar with 'Number One'," Miller said.
Financed by the US Agency for International Development, the 5 million dollar programme also plans to distribute female contraceptives, including the pill, as well as water purification and anti-mosquito products.
All these items have received approval for distribution from the Afghan Ministry of Health.
With hardly a dozen cases of HIV/AIDS officially registered in Afghanistan, the promotion of condoms here is not about safe sex or fewer pregnancies.
PSI says it is more about encouraging couples to better space the birth of their children and thus fight against Afghanistan's alarming maternal mortality rate, one of the highest in the world.
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