Female condom yet to gain acceptability
The use of female condoms as a preventive measure in the battle against HIV and Aids remains a far away cry with many people in the country rejecting it, National Aids Commission (Nac) has admitted.Invented in the 1980s by a Danish physician Dr Lasse Hessel, the female condom is a safe device that is used during sexual intercourse as a barrier contraceptive and enables women to reduce their risk of sexually transmitted infections such as gonorrhea, syphilis, and HIV and Aids.
The safe sex tool, however, continues to suffer underutilisation across the globe and Malawi has not been spared.
Speaking when she toured several establishments in Chikwawa, Nac Board Chair Mara Kumbweza-Banda said it was clear the female latex continued to be snubbed, saying it defeats the idea behind its introduction.
Her observations coincided with the observation of the first ever Global Female Condom Day yesterday aimed at calling for greater access to, and increased education on the importance of female condoms.
"It is clear that due to our culture and the nature of the condom, the information coming out there indicates there is little use of the condom and the duty is on us all to promote its use," she said.
Kumbweza-Banda said culturally sex in Malawi is initiated by men and this gives them more power to negotiate the kind of sex they want and, often, they are discouraged by women who propose they use a condom.
Thiruvananthapuram: The female condom has not gained the kind of social acceptability in India it should have been six years after its launch but efforts are underway to reverse the trend, its manufacturer says.
But HLL Lifecare, which manufactures the condom with the support of Britain's Female Health Company (FHC), appears to be taking things on its stride as the male condom also took a long time to gain popularity.
On the eve of World Female Condom day on Wednesday, HLL Lifecare Chairman and Managing Director M. Ayyappan said the company would redouble efforts to sensitise people, holding seminars, road shows and opening of special stalls.
"Now our job is to hold awareness campaigns that will highlight this product. We are basically looking to empower women because they have to take the lead. And we will do it," Ayyappan said.
In the last fiscal, 36,000 female condoms was sold in the open market in the country.
"Velvet", produced at HLL's Kochi plant, is the only female condom that is approved by the World Health Organisation, presently being sold in the country. The product has a shelf life of five years.
Currently, the ring and the sheath come from FHC and the assembly line of the final product takes place at the Kochi plant of the Thiruvananthapuram-based mini-ratna company.
Today, this unique protective sex product is sold through two channels, the open market and through The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), which markets this through campaign programmes across the country.
HLL produced 3.2 lakh female condoms in the last fiscal of which NACO procured 2.80 lakhs. In the fiscal 2010-11, open market sales was 25,000 pieces while NACO bought around eight lakh pieces.
Today a packet of Velvet that contains three pieces costs Rs.100 in the open market and HLL gets Rs.24 per piece for its supplies to NACO.HLL is doing all what they can through a trust promoted by them which distributes this product through NGO's and commercial sex workers across the country.
The Trust has been working with around 270 NGO's in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka and has supplied close to three lakh pieces.
During her visit to various establishments in Neno on Monday and Nchalo on Tuesday she was told of how safe sex campaigners were having difficulties convincing women to use the female condom.
Some peer educators said partners were snubbing the latex because it makes a lot of noise during use. Others said women had complained that their male counterparts would call them prostitutes for wearing the condom.
Kumbweza-Banda said these are the areas that have to be looked into by all partners but insisted it was time cultures on sex were reviewed to give women powers of suggesting what kind of safe sex strategy they prefer at a particular time.
"This battle cannot be won one-sided. We need both sexes to be empowered on safe sex and its tools," she said.
She complained how the female condom, instead of being used for the intended purpose, was being worn as on women's arms for decoration.
Clinical Officer at Illovo Sugar Company which was one of the establishments visited, Benjason Mazalo, said it was rare to see a woman come and ask for female condoms.
"We have so many of them, some from government and some bought by the company but no one comes to ask for them," he said.
Nac's visits to HIV and Aids establishments is for the Malawi Partnership Forum for HIV and Aids and the Malawi Global Fund Coordinating Committee to appraise themselves on initiatives being carried on at district level in readiness for the Joint Annual Review of the National Response to HIV and Aids in Malawi to be held later this month.
But HLL Lifecare, which manufactures the condom with the support of Britain's Female Health Company (FHC), appears to be taking things on its stride as the male condom also took a long time to gain popularity.
On the eve of World Female Condom day on Wednesday, HLL Lifecare Chairman and Managing Director M. Ayyappan said the company would redouble efforts to sensitise people, holding seminars, road shows and opening of special stalls.
"Now our job is to hold awareness campaigns that will highlight this product. We are basically looking to empower women because they have to take the lead. And we will do it," Ayyappan said.
In the last fiscal, 36,000 female condoms was sold in the open market in the country.
"Velvet", produced at HLL's Kochi plant, is the only female condom that is approved by the World Health Organisation, presently being sold in the country. The product has a shelf life of five years.
Currently, the ring and the sheath come from FHC and the assembly line of the final product takes place at the Kochi plant of the Thiruvananthapuram-based mini-ratna company.
Today, this unique protective sex product is sold through two channels, the open market and through The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), which markets this through campaign programmes across the country.
HLL produced 3.2 lakh female condoms in the last fiscal of which NACO procured 2.80 lakhs. In the fiscal 2010-11, open market sales was 25,000 pieces while NACO bought around eight lakh pieces.
Today a packet of Velvet that contains three pieces costs Rs.100 in the open market and HLL gets Rs.24 per piece for its supplies to NACO.HLL is doing all what they can through a trust promoted by them which distributes this product through NGO's and commercial sex workers across the country.
The Trust has been working with around 270 NGO's in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka and has supplied close to three lakh pieces.
During her visit to various establishments in Neno on Monday and Nchalo on Tuesday she was told of how safe sex campaigners were having difficulties convincing women to use the female condom.
Some peer educators said partners were snubbing the latex because it makes a lot of noise during use. Others said women had complained that their male counterparts would call them prostitutes for wearing the condom.
Kumbweza-Banda said these are the areas that have to be looked into by all partners but insisted it was time cultures on sex were reviewed to give women powers of suggesting what kind of safe sex strategy they prefer at a particular time.
"This battle cannot be won one-sided. We need both sexes to be empowered on safe sex and its tools," she said.
She complained how the female condom, instead of being used for the intended purpose, was being worn as on women's arms for decoration.
Clinical Officer at Illovo Sugar Company which was one of the establishments visited, Benjason Mazalo, said it was rare to see a woman come and ask for female condoms.
"We have so many of them, some from government and some bought by the company but no one comes to ask for them," he said.
Nac's visits to HIV and Aids establishments is for the Malawi Partnership Forum for HIV and Aids and the Malawi Global Fund Coordinating Committee to appraise themselves on initiatives being carried on at district level in readiness for the Joint Annual Review of the National Response to HIV and Aids in Malawi to be held later this month.
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