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 Female Health Company has signed a letter of understanding with Beijing Zizhu Pharmaceutical Co. to make its product available to Chinese women through aid groups and also commercially on the open market.

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 Organization 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 Center 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.

(China Daily September 30, 2004)