16 February,2011 07:31 AM IST | | Agencies
Need a condom? There's an app for that.
The New York City Health Department unveiled a smartphone application that will help users locate the nearest place in the area giving out free condoms.
The plan was launched on Valentine's Day
"We want New York to be the safest city in the world to have sex," said Dr Monica Sweeney, the city's assistant health commissioner.
"A lot of people come here for that, so we want them to practice safer sex."
The application, available for download on the iPhone and Android phones, taps into the city's database of over 1,000 different locations, which offer free condoms.
It uses GPS technology or an address input to give users directions to the nearest five places in the city that are giving out free condoms.
The city rolled out the application on Valentine's Day.
For the past five years, the city has been giving out free condoms at an average of 3 million a month.
New York City has come under criticism in the past for its condom distribution program, especially from parents of younger children who claim the program encourages people to have sex.
"We're not promoting sex, we're promoting safer sex," Sweeney said. "In New York and around the country, adolescents and pre-adolescents have sex whether you give them condoms or not."
3 Million
The number of free condoms NYC has been handing out
