By Njoki Karuoya

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a condom policy and strategy workshop in Mombasa attended by officials from the Ministry of Public Health, National Aids Control Council, National Aids and STDs Control Programme, USAid, UNFPA and PSI among other stakeholders. A number of issues were raised that were of great national concern.

For instance, did you know that the demand for condoms in Kenya has increased to more than 200 million pieces a year?

In 2000, 36 million pieces were procured by the Government for national consumption. By 2007, condom usage had increased to 100 million pieces — and these are only the ones procured by Government, so add on the private condoms sold through shops and chemists that come in different colours, sizes and flavours.

female condoms

Last year a consignment of 1.6 million female condoms was delivered owing to the increased usage as more women learn of, use and accept the item.

With the increased usage, it is easy to conclude that Kenyans are having more sex. That, however, may not be correct. It could just mean that Kenyans are increasingly using protection when having sex to protect themselves against sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV. It could explain why the HIV prevalence rate in Kenya has reduced.

Do you remember when there was a shortage of condoms earlier in the year? Men and women were reported as recycling condoms or using plastic bags (jwala) to protect themselves. In a way, this is a good thing because it demonstrates that awareness levels on how to prevent STI and HIV infection are high.

Despite continued opposition from mainstream religions, condoms are gaining acceptance socially.

In fact, some of these religions have somewhat slackened their stand on condoms, allowing for special circumstances to dictate usage, such as in the case of discordant couples (where one spouse is HIV+ and the other negative), or when a married couple desires not to have children for a while.

Question is, just how well are condoms distributed countrywide? Can all Kenyans, residents and foreigners access them from wherever they are? Are they in remote areas, or is it assumed that people living in those areas are not sexually active and so don’t need condoms?

Distribution of condoms is a logistical nightmare for the Government, its agents, development partners and donors. Currently, the practice is to distribute condoms to health and medical facilities, from where men and women can go collect their supplies.

Fortunately, though, condoms are no longer restricted to medical and health facilities and people can access them from pharmacies, supermarkets, kiosks, hotels, restaurants and almost everywhere else, including briefcases.

But then, how easy is it for women who are unsure of their spouse’s fidelity and hence need to protect themselves from an STI or HIV to access the female condom, over which they have more control of than the male condom?

Brutal

We all know it is not easy for a wife to convince her husband to wear a condom before she would have to explain, probably under brutal circumstances, how she can dare claim he is unfaithful.

Also, where male condoms cost Sh10, female condoms cost Sh200 per piece.

While it would be easy to castigate this as a conspiracy of gender discrimination, the costs are largely pegged on manufacturing costs, which include the size of the female condom, the amount of lubrication used, the coils used and so forth.

Nevertheless, as governments and donor agencies have bent backwards to subsidise the male condoms, the same should be done for female condoms as women are always more at risk of acquiring STIs and HIV.

If their prevalence rates are to drastically reduce, the female condom needs to be heavily subsidised and a national education and awareness campaign launched to help with social acceptance and increased use.

Let’s face it, whether we like it or not, condoms are here to stay with us as long as men and women continue to have sex.