The Associated Press - Friday, Nov. 23, 2001.
Ben Holland

That is the question Turkey's Health Ministry is posing to young people, enlisting Shakespeare, Chinese history and a chorus of singing condoms in an effort to spread awareness about the dangers of AIDS.

With the help of UNICEF, the ministry has produced a handbook to educate young people on the dangers of AIDS and the importance of condoms -- often a taboo subject in a country that is largely Muslim and conservative, but where sex before marriage is becoming more common.

Officials say the book marks a departure from the ministry's usual dry, factual style.

"It's a new approach. We're trying to address young people in a jokey style that they will identify with," said Dr. Unal Ertugrul of the ministry's department for monitoring sexually transmitted diseases.

The book, which will be handed out free to young people in universities, cafes and cinemas, aims to address what authorities see as a dangerous ignorance about contraception and sexually transmitted diseases.

Titled "Never Without My Guardian Angel," the handbook's cover features a chorus of condoms singing a verb conjugation: "I protect, you protect, he protects, we protect."

The booklet combines information about AIDS and practical tips on protection against the disease with a series of slogans that draws on sources from Shakespeare to folk songs.

"Embrace me, hug me, wrap me in a condom," one slogan reads, adapting a folk song.

"To wear or not to wear, that is the question," reads another, playing on Hamlet's soliloquy.

There is also a history section.

"How did we get like this?" a young condom asks its grandfather.

In reply, the elderly condom runs through the history of male contraception, from Chinese silk paper and Egyptian papyrus, through Europeans fumbling with fish bladders, to the invention of latex.

The book's approach is lighthearted but it aims to address a serious information gap about sexually transmitted diseases. A recent study by Ankara's Hacettepe University found that just 14 percent of Turks use condoms.

Turkey only introduced sex education in state schools last year. Influential Islamic groups have opposed giving children information about sex and contraception, while in conservative rural areas the subject is largely taboo. Men often shun condoms.

Turkey had about 1,200 registered cases of AIDS as of June, Ertugrul said. Officials say many cases involve men who have sex with prostitutes from former Soviet states.
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