Sexuality in Japan - AIDS, Other STDs, and Contraceptives

AIDS, Other STDs, and Contraceptives

In the years since people first became aware of the AIDS epidemic, Japan like most industrialized nations has not suffered the high rates of disease and death that characterize, for example, some nations in Africa and South-East Asia, etc. As of 2007 only around 100 people die a year in Japan due to AIDS. In 1992, the government of Japan justified its continued refusal to allow oral contraceptives to be distributed in Japan on the fear that it would lead to reduced condom use, and thus increase transmission of AIDS. As of 2004, condoms accounted for 80% of birth control use in Japan, and this may explain Japan's comparably lower rates of AIDS.