Condom
A member of the No To Pope Coalition displays a condom on her thumb during a media call in Sydney July 4, 2008. The coalition is planning to give condoms to people at the venues of World Youth Day which also features Pope Benedict's first visit to Australia Reuters/Daniel Munoz

To encourage safe sex practices among the youth, Durex started a campaign on Nov 18, 2015, to create a condom emoji. The international campaign was launched ahead of the annual World AIDS Day coming up this Dec. 1.

In a video posted on YouTube, Durex encourages everyone to use the #CondomEmoji hashtag. Through this, the company aims to get the attention of the Unicode Consortium, a nonprofit group formed in the 1980s that oversees the introduction of new emojis, to include a condom emoji in their next update.

“We know that mobile devices and emojis play a vital role in young people’s conversation around sex,” Durex stated on their post. “An official safe sex emoji will enable young people to overcome embarrassment around the discussion of safe sex, encourage conversation and raise awareness of the importance of using condoms in protecting against sexually transmitted infections.”

World AIDS Day began in 1988 so people could show their support for people living with HIV and to remember people who have died. It is a great opportunity for people across the globe to unite in the fight against HIV.

There are an estimated 34 million people diagnosed with the virus. More than 35 million people have died of HIV or AIDS since its identification in 1984, making it one of the most devastating pandemics in history.

In Kirby Institute’s latest Annual Surveillance Report of HIV, there are approximately 27,150 HIV-positive cases in Australia alone. Twelve percent of these HIV-positive patients are unaware of their condition.

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