Utah HIV website is offline after recall of provocative condoms - Salt Lake Tribune

The morning after state officials recalled 100,000 Utah-themed condoms due to their provocative labels, the related website for an HIV awareness campaign has been taken offline.

The website on Wednesday had contained information on sexual health and disease prevention as well as support for patients. On Thursday morning, Hivandme.com displayed only a black screen with the words “Temporarily offline.”

It’s unclear what will be done with the condoms that had not yet been handed out when Gov. Gary Herbert ordered distribution to stop on Wednesday evening, said Brooke Scheffler, Herbert’s spokeswoman. Officials at the Utah Department of Health “are currently in the process of reviewing the campaign,” she said.

The condom labels riffed on various Utah memes, with labels such as “Greatest Sex on Earth,” “SL,UT,” an image of a highway sign that displays the number of miles to towns “Fillmore” and “Beaver,” and “This is the Place” over a drawing of a bed.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the website had contained no prominent reference to the condoms, which were created by Love Communications under a state contract. They were distributed by health officials and nonprofit partners as part of “The H is for Human” awareness campaign launched this month. Herbert said he ordered state health officials to halt the distribution because the packaging used “sexual innuendo as part of a taxpayer-funded campaign.”

The Utah AIDS Foundation said Thursday that it was the first comprehensive and truly culturally relevant campaign the state had provided.

“For the first time since the beginning of the HIV epidemic in Utah, Utahns living with and at risk for acquiring HIV have been provided with information and prevention tools from the Utah Department of Health in a way that ... countless national and global agencies have long known to be what the community wants, deserves, and frankly, has a right to from government entities sworn to protect the health of citizens,” foundation leaders wrote in a statement.

State health officials issued an apology for the condom labels in a news statement late Wednesday, calling them “offensive.” The labels did not go through the “necessary approval channels," according to the department’s statement.

But it’s not clear why the website itself has been taken down; multiple spokespeople for the Utah Department of Health did not answer calls or return messages from The Tribune on Thursday morning. The website had contained a clinic directory, information about testing, treatment and prevention of HIV, and facts about how HIV is transmitted.

Article continues below

“From prevention to testing to treatment, nearly everything about HIV has changed for the better,” the website stated. “And the best part? The end of the epidemic is in reach.”

The condom packaging was part of an effort “to destigmatize HIV in Utah, and get everybody talking about sexual health,” said Erin Fratto, of the health department’s Prevention Treatment and Care Program, in an interview on Wednesday before the governor’s action. “If the condoms are fun, relatable, sex positive — people are more apt to talk about them, which we’ve already seen.”

The Tribune will update this developing story.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

"salt" - Google News
January 17, 2020 at 03:50AM
https://ift.tt/35VgRdb

Utah HIV website is offline after recall of provocative condoms - Salt Lake Tribune
"salt" - Google News
https://ift.tt/36cjMPq
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update