Tourism Minister Hails Programme to Install Condom Machines in Hotels

Minister of Tourism, Entertainment and Culture, Aloun Assamba, has hailed the programme to install condom dispensers in hotels as a critical part of the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Mrs. Assamba, who witnessed the installation of a dispenser at the Beaches Boscobel Resort in St. Mary on Wednesday (Feb.14), said the programme fully complemented the Ministry’s sustainable tourism development master plan, which has the objective of ensuring that Jamaica remained competitive as a tourist destination and maximised the benefits to be derived from the industry.
The installation of condom dispensers in hotels is part of a US$15 million project by the Tourism Development Product (TPDCo), which is aimed at fostering responsible sexual behaviours among hotel guests and staff. The project, which was introduced in 2004, is being funded by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).
A total of 15 machines have so far been installed in 12 hotels, and the Tourism Minister said that every effort would be made to encourage more properties to make prophylactics more accessible to staff and guests, as the nation continued its fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
The implementation of the programme, she said, was an acknowledgement that safer sex was part and parcel of corporate health and directly impacted the overall quality of service delivery of the tourism product.
TPDCo has been mandated to coordinate all HIV-related activities within the tourism sector and over the past four years, the organization has worked in tandem with the Ministries of Labour and Social Security, National Security, Education and Youth, and Local Government and Environment in developing a national strategic plan against the spread of the disease, which included the installation of condom dispensers in hotels.