The Female Condom Experience: Applying Lessons Learned

Female Health Foundation

This session brought together ten years of real-life experience with the female condom in Bangladesh, PNG, and Cambodia. Carol Jenkins, who conducted studies on the female condom in PNG and Bangladesh, found that although not everyone agreed to use them, almost all of those who did wanted to use them again. The female condom is a not a panacea for HIV/AIDS but it is one more option and women like them in a lot of different sexual encounters. It increased their sense of safety because it is so strong, and for women who otherwise have virtually no control about their sex lives it was a godsend. The issue is not whether people like to use them - they do. The issues are cost, access and availability. Many women re-use the condom because they cannot find them or afford them.We sometimes found women used the same condom we gave them years ago! We advised women who re-use them to boil or wash them and re-lubricate them with baby oil, but we really have too little information on what are safe and effective methods to re-use the condom.This needs further research. At present, one female condom costs about US 50 cents (compared to three to four cents for the male condom). This is because it is made from polyurethane, which is much more expensive than latex. In China at present efforts are being made to develop a latex female condom which may cost only 20 cents. However, at present the female condom is still caught in a "Catch-22" - the price will only go down if they are bought in bulk, but they will only be bought in bulk when their price goes down. It is therefore essential that providers do not see the female condom as only an option for sex workers, but promote it among a wide range of men and women for all sorts of sexual encounters. Also, the condom needs to be promoted among health workers. Most of all, they need to be trained to talk explicitly about sex because otherwise they will not be able to explain use to their clients.