ABSTRACT
Early in the course of the AIDS epidemic, condoms were recognized as an effective means of prevention if used properly and consistently. All the European countries have included the promotion of condom use in their overall AIDS prevention policies, even if the importance of this element in relation to others, such as promotion of counselling and testing and advocacy of fidelity, has differed according to the different socio-cultural and political contexts. Prevention campaigns addressing the general population have been used more or less extensively, differing in intensity, duration, tone and style, but were present in all countries. This chapter offers a comparison of condom use across several European countries and discusses the differences and similarities encountered. Lifetime experience with condoms is relatively high in Europe: between 51 per cent and 88 per cent of the general population, according to the country and the year of the survey, have used condoms at least once in their lives.
