STOCKHOLM, May 28 (Reuters) - A Swedish aid organisation will roll out a new line of defence to the country's emergency services next week -- the condom ambulance.
From Friday, June 4, amorous couples can call the telephone number 696969 and a white van featuring a large red condom with wings as a logo will deliver them a packet of 10 prophylactics.
"We need to increase the usage of condoms," said Carl Osvald, marketing manager for the Swedish Organisation for Sex Education, the non-governmental organisation behind the initiative. "It is 50 percent about pregnancy and 50 percent about sexually transmitted diseases."
The ambulances will operate in Stockholm and the southern cities of Malmo and Gothenberg. The service, aimed at young people, will run until June 25 and be available between four in the afternoon and nine at night.
A packet of 10 condoms will cost 50 crowns ($6.72), less than they cost on average in the shops.
The incidence of sexually transmitted disease is increasing rapidly in Sweden and not enough young people use condoms, Osvald said.
"We need to change attitudes to condoms," he said. "If we need to get out in to the bedrooms to make things better we will do it."
((Simon.johnson.reuters.com@reuters.net; stockholm.newsroom@reuters.com; +46 8 700 1017))
($1=7.436 Swedish Crowns)

Thanks to Murphy