Female condoms in Africa? (4)
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To my knowledge, the female condom is most widely available in Zambia,
Zimbabwe and South Africa. Zimbabwe was the first African country to
make the device available outside of a clinical or experimental study
environment, in September 1997. Its availability varies a great deal by
region - in some urban centres it's easy to find in the chemists' shop;
in other places it's unheard-of. The Zimbabwean government made the
condom widely available in response to a national petition drive spon-
sored by the Women and AIDS Support Network, which gathered 30 000
women's names on a petition to parliament. I have heard that the sales
of the female condom have exceeded expectations, but it's not clear how
many women are just trying it out as an interesting new device and how
many of them are actually going to make the female condom a regular
part of their sex lives.
I've heard that it has been less popular in South Africa and Zambia,
where health workers and elders have been rather suspicious of it, but
this impression is just based on anecdotes from various people.
I believe that there are plans to launch the female condom in several
other countries, including Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Perhaps someone
else can confirm or add to this information?
Amy Kaler
mailto:kaler@pop.upenn.edu
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