Female condoms on the up in SA
2006-08-30 10:17
Special Report
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Cape Town - In some parts they are used as decorative bangles and at times it is derisively referred to as a "fish bag" - but female condom usage seems to be rising in South Africa, its second largest market in the world.
The female condom has been around for nearly a decade, and in South Africa - which globally has among the highest incidence of HIV/Aids with about 5.5 million people living with the disease - forms a focal point of government's national HIV/Aids programme.
The female condom is an integral part of government's "ABC" - abstinence, be faithful, condomise - message, with distribution thereof increasing from 1.3 million in 2001/02 to 2.6 million in 2004/05. The target for 2005/06 was to distribute three million female condoms.
"I believe that its phased introduction over the years has gained momentum," said Mags Beksinska, executive director of the Reproductive Health and HIV Research Unit, at the University of Witwatersrand.
Used by gay men too
Beksinska said measuring the impact female condoms has had in the country was difficult because one needed to measure changes in protected sex acts.
Research suggests that in South Africa one in four women are HIV positive by the age of 24, twice the infection rate for men.
Beksinska said the introduction of a new method of protection takes several years for general acceptance, and as a method available it has become known by over half of women of a reproductive age.
Eleanor Sopili, an HIV-positive Cape Town woman, told Sapa that when she started using the female condom, it felt a "little bit funny".
"But as you continue using it, there is no difference between that and the male condom," she said.
Sopili said male partners, who were reluctant to wear condoms, were "happy" this responsibility was shifted to women.
Sopili said the female condom was not very popular among her peers, but felt confident this would change.
Katy Pepper, African region programme manager at the not-for-profit Female Health Foundation, said the initial response to female condoms in the country was fairly good.
Existing barriers to the programme include a lack of access, lack of staff training, lack of promotional materials, lack of understanding and bias among medical staff.
Ignorance among women about their physiology added to the challenge as it appeared many women thought they would not be able to go to the toilet when wearing one.
The first generation female condom, FC1, is marketed as a strong, soft, transparent polyurethane sheath that is about 17 centimetres long, the same length as a male condom.
The new synthetic latex FC2 could be in the country by next year.
The FC1, greasy to the touch, has flexible rings at each end and is inserted into the vagina prior to sexual intercourse, providing protection against both sexually transmitted infections and HIV/Aids.
The condoms are apparently used by gay men as well.
- SAPA