Millions of condoms set to arrive next month after reported shortage last year
End of condoms shortage after the government ordered millions of male condoms that are expected in the country next month.
This will put a end to a scarcity of free condoms that was reported at the end of last year.
“The procurement of public sector free condoms is ongoing and the next batch is expected in the country in March 2022,” Joab Khasewa, the monitoring and evaluation officer at the National Aids Control Council said.
Last year, the Kenyan government distributed millions of free condoms, averaging 25 condoms per sexually active guy in the country.
According to NACC studies, each man used only 14 condoms throughout the course of the year.
According to recommendations, each male should use around 40 condoms each year, according to Khasewa.
He stated that NACC will run aggressive condom-promotion efforts because condoms are the most effective means to prevent HIV, STIs, and pregnancy when people have sex.
The government’s free condoms account for almost 84 percent of all condoms used in Kenya.
He called for more local resources to buy condoms because the current free supply is donor-funded.
Since the disease first broke out in Kenya, condom use has saved 45 million HIV infections, according to the Kenya Aids Progress Report 2013-2021.
The Ministry of Health is also attempting to make the female condom attractive to Kenyans but has failed.
Only 5,800 pieces were dispensed from health facilities countrywide last year, mostly in Nairobi, according to the ministry’s data analytics platform, which aggregates information from all health facilities.
The female condom was introduced in Kenya in the late 1990s as a potential game-changer that gave women the opportunity to protect themselves from both STIs and pregnancy.
“The biggest challenge is knowledge on how to use it and where to access it. Advocacy from the government or partners is not there,” says Peter Mogere, a health research advocate and project coordinator of the Kemri’s Partners in Health Research & Development.
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