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Published on November 30, 2007

L'Oreal Thailand is taking the bold step in conjunction with the Thai National Commission for Unesco and the Public Health Ministry. The information, provided in a campaign called "Aids Communication in Hair Salons", will cover HIV, Aids and condom use.

Fabrice Orrier, general manager of L'Oreal Professional Products Division, said the objective was to provide accurate and useful information on HIV and Aids for hairdressers and their clients.

It will involve information stands with free leaflets on HIV, Aids and condom use based on materials supplied by the ministry in thousands of L'Oreal salons.

"In order to turn the tide against the Aids epidemic, it is crucial for everyone to know the facts and be able to talk about them openly, with understanding and empathy," Orrier said.

"We see our network of salons as a good channel to offer such information, as it is visited by people from all walks of life. With this campaign, the time they spend in the salons will become even more meaningful and hopefully life-saving.

"This is an extended activity from the 'Hairdressers of the World against Aids' programme we introduced earlier this year."

The programme was started in South Africa in 2002 as a crusade against Aids and included L'Oreal training courses for hairdressers and sessions on HIV and Aids. Since then, L'Oreal has trained more than 200,000 hairdressers in 24 countries in Africa.

Pilot programmes adapted for the different cultures have since been launched in India, Brazil, France, the United Kingdom and Thailand, with the goal to provide Aids training to its entire network of more than two million hairdressers world-wide. "What we do will not only allow hairdressers to protect themselves better against Aids, but their role in the community and their unique relationship with their customers will also enable them to spread accurate information on Aids to a larger society as well," Orrier said.

The Nation