Kampala
– Global health charity Marie Stopes said on Wednesday it had recalled hundreds
of thousands of faulty condoms on sale in Uganda, where HIV rates are among the
highest in the world.
The recall followed a warning
from Uganda's National Drug Authority (NDA) that the "Life Guard" brand
condoms had failed manufacturing "quality tests" because they
contained holes and may burst.
The affected condoms were
manufactured by India-based MHL Healthcare in April 2019, and have an expiry
date of April 2024, the government regulator said.
Marie Stopes Uganda spokesperson David
Kamu told AFP on Wednesday that the two affected batches each contained
"around 400 000" condoms.
More than half recalled
Earlier reports had suggested
millions of condoms could have been involved, but NDA spokesperson Fred
Ssekyana told AFP the figure was below one million.
Marie
Stopes Uganda said more than half of the condoms of concern had been recalled.
"While the Life Guard brand
follows strict quality controls, unfortunately two recent batches have fallen
short of the quality we demand," the charity's country director, Carole
Sekimpi, said in a statement on Tuesday.
Marie Stopes is the largest and
most specialised sexual reproductive health organisation in Uganda, the charity
says on its website.
According to UNAIDS, 1.4 million
Ugandans are living with HIV.
Last year, 53 000 people were
newly infected with the disease in the East African country, the UN agency
said.