Female condom

Zena Stein, Ida Susser and Marion Stevens report from Mexico on the diaphragm: inexpensive a single purchase may last for years easy to use and virtually hidden from the partner. Would it give harm reduction to HIV, as it did for pregnancy?

Condom sales in South Africa have climbed by as much as 55 percent in the last year, pointing to increased condom usage - but does this mean that behaviour has changed? Health officials and researchers said it was too soon to tell if HIV-prevention messages had really filtered through and were having the impact they were supposed to have on people.

The lives of millions of South Africans could be at risk, and South Africa's health department has recalled 20 million government condoms as it scrambles to do damage control after allegations of corruption in the country's quality-assurance and standards body.

The diaphragm contraceptive device does not help to prevent HIV infection, according to the results of a three-year trial published in the Lancet today.

Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang opened the South African AIDS exhibition to a background of brightly coloured displays at the International AIDS Conference in Toronto, Canada, on Sunday. The exhibition showcases garlic, lemon and beetroot.

African countries have failed to meet prevention targets agreed upon in 2001 at the United Nations General Assembly's Special Session on HIV/AIDS (UNGASS), according to a statement issued recently by over 80 representatives of African civil society.

New Study Shows Expanded Use of FC2 Could Prevent Thousands of HIV Infections and Save Millions of Dollars in Health Care Costs Annually in South Africa and Brazil Alone

Studies are being carried out in South Africa and Zimbabwe to determine whether diaphragms can help protect women against HIV/AIDS, as they bear the brunt of the pandemic.

A sharp cut in the price of female condoms should promote their use in Gabon, one of the Central African countries most affected by HIV/AIDS, medical workers said.

The high cost of the female condom has led to the controversial practice, particularly in developing countries, of reuse. But soon-to-be launched World Health Organisation (WHO) programmatic guidelines for reuse will provide helpful information to programme managers who need to make decisions regarding reuse. In July 2002 WHO published a clinical protocol which stated that a new condom is always preferable. But in situations where they are not available or affordable, evidence suggests that the female condom can be used safely at least five times if the WHO guidelines are followed. Many HIV/AIDS advocacy groups see female condoms as a significant new alternative women can use to better protect themselves against infection. The challenge will be to make sure that information on correctly reusing them reaches women the hardest-hit population group. The use of the female condom was still not widespread enough. Part of the reason was its limited appeal. To support the WHO guidelines, the Female Health Foundation has launched a website to assist programme managers in deciding whether or not to support reuse of the female condom in their programmes. (Source: IRIN, 29 July 2003 www.reusefemalecondom.org)