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By Lonah Kibet
Nairobi, Kenya: The government has attributed the looming shortage of condoms to lack of a budget for the widely used contraceptive.
Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia while confirming that free condoms will be out of stock in two months time, said they were engaging with the relevant authorities to avert the situation.
“There has been no budget for condoms for the last two years which has brought about this situation. We are working with Treasury and other partners to make sure the crisis in January is avoided,” said Macharia.
He noted that there is need to put in place interventions to ensure there is adequate supply of free condoms in future. He proposed the setting up of a fund by the government.
Donor dependent
“We have been donor dependent for a long time and it’s time we make our own budgets,” he said.
He was speaking Tuesday at a Nairobi Hotel during the opening ceremony of a Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (RMNCH) workshop.
According to National AIDS and STI Control Program head Dr Martin Sirengo, the looming condom shortage came about when the money meant for procuring the prophylactics was diverted to the counties.
“The national government was left with no money to assist us in procuring the goods,” said Sirengo. More than 180 million condoms are distributed to different areas of the country annually.
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