ROME, ITALY – Italy’s state TV and radio network is at the center of a censorship controversy after a manager instructed the staff not to mention the word “condom” during programs about World AIDS Day on Thursday.

In an email to staff, reported by Italian daily Corriere della Sera, manager Laura De Pasquale wrote that Italy’s health ministry had requested that “in no broadcast should the word condom be explicitly mentioned. We must limit ourselves to the generic concept of prevention in sexual behavior and the need to undergo HIV testing in the case of potential risk.”