The CONDOMIZE! Campaign seeks to raise awareness about the importance of condom use in a lively and engaging way.
Credit: Scott Henderson

There is a renewed emphasis on condoms at the XIX International AIDS Conference being held in Washington, DC from 22-27 July as a campaign promoting their use and availability has been re-launched with the distribution of 850 000 condoms.

The CONDOMIZE! Campaign aims to highlight the effectiveness of condoms, male and female, for HIV prevention and calls on governments, donors and users to intensify access to, and demand for, quality condoms as a primary defence against HIV.  It advocates investing significant resources and materials into promoting condom use as the most efficient and available prevention technology in the global AIDS response. Challenging the stigma that still often surrounds condoms is also a key objective.

“Let us not forget that the condom remains the cheapest and highly effective method we have to stop the spread of HIV,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé championing the importance of condoms during his opening speech at the conference. “It is time for all of us to condomize!,” he added.

The initiative was born during the 2010 International AIDS Conference in Vienna and is a partnership between UNFPA and The Condom Project, in close collaboration with Bahamas Red Cross; DKT International, a social marketing NGO; Durex, the Female Health Company, the International AIDS Society and UNAIDS.

In addition to mass condom distribution, rap music with short videos has been created, using key messages from senior international leaders about the importance of condom use. These messages are being shown on TV screens throughout the conference.

Franck DeRose, Executive Director of the Condom Project and Global Coordinator of the CONDOMIZE! Campaign, says “In a modern and exciting way, we are helping people understand very serious issues and the need to promote condom use. We must ensure that those who need condoms can access them when they need them and where they feel most comfortable. The awareness campaign at AIDS 2012 is one step towards making this happen.”

The campaign noted that there is a considerable shortfall in condom availability in a number of countries. For example, in 2011 in sub-Saharan Africa there were only nine condoms available per man per year and only one female condom for every 10 women. These condoms were mostly provided by donors as most low- and middle-income countries do not have a budget line for condom procurement.

According to UNFPA more support and funding are needed from governments themselves to increase the availability of male and female condoms. They should create awareness initiatives and encourage people to use condoms as an important facet of a combination HIV prevention approach which uses all proven methods of avoiding infection.

“We know that sexual transmission accounts for more than 80% of new HIV infections worldwide – if we increase protected sex, we could reduce HIV incidence,” said Bidia Deperthes, UNFPA’s Senior HIV Technical Advisor.

The social marketing of these commodities is highlighted by the involvement of DKT International whose President Philip Harvey says he wants to make condoms as “attractive and convenient to buy as Coca-Cola”. Condoms manufacturer Durex welcomes the chance to be involved in such an awareness-raising intervention.  Charles Shepherd, the company’s Head of Health Promotion comments: “We are delighted to help, not only by donating half a million condoms for the CONDOMIZE! programme at AIDS 2012, but also engaging with the educational sessions.”

Organisers say there has already been a great deal of interest shown with many conference participants urging them to roll out the campaign at country level.

Treatment Action Campaign activists and UNAIDS HIV prevention commissioners march for scaled-up access to condoms.
Credit: UNAIDS/AFP Photo G. Guercia

A vibrant gathering took place outside the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) in Site B in Khayelitsha on 4 May, as members of the public joined with high-level commissioners from the UNAIDS Commission on HIV Prevention to scale-up the use of condoms in communities most severely affected by HIV. Donning ‘HIV Positive’ t-shirts and dancing in unison to the music both on and off stage, Khayelitsha residents and others celebrated condoms as a barrier against the spread of the virus.

“Here in Khayelitsha, Treatment Action Coalition is empowering people living with HIV into leaders of the HIV prevention revolution,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé, who also acknowledged the TAC’s role as a leading a “global movement for access to HIV treatment.”

Says TAC secretary-general, Vuyiseka Dubula, who is also a member of the UNAIDS Commission on HIV Prevention, “Our view at TAC is that condoms are by far the most effective tool to prevent HIV, and we have taken it upon ourselves team up with the City of Cape Town to increase accessibility.”

The partnership is now in its third year and, says Dubula, it has culminated in the distribution of at least one million condoms per annum in the region, with data from local clinics reporting an obvious drop in the incidence of sexual transmitting infections in the same period. But, she cautions, condom distribution needs to form part of a holistic approach to be most effective.

“We take condoms to people in their houses,” she explains. “We also consistently teach others about the correct use of condoms. We also bring supporting educational material in isiXhosa, we talk about the importance of testing, and we also share information about tuberculosis.”

An important figure at the gathering was a man known to most as either ‘Mr Condom’ or the ‘Condom King’. Hailing from Thailand, Mechai Viradaidya has been proactively distributing condoms for 37 years and, he says, his approach is all about the visibility of condoms—an approach that debunks the myths and gets rid of the taboo.

“Keep on mentioning condoms all the time, and let them be seen and be available everywhere,” he advises. “When I say they must be available, I don’t just mean physically, I mean mentally too. You have to have ‘condoms of the mind’ to really change behaviour.”

Viravaidya smiles and says he hands out condoms, “Absolutely everywhere except funerals.” He explains that he started bringing condoms out into the open in his native Thailand by having a condom-blowing competition amongst school teachers. “Whoever could blow the condom to the biggest size without it bursting was the winner,” he says.

He also set up the ‘cops and rubbers’ programme in Thailand by getting traffic police to sell and distribute condoms. He says that a condom is made of rubber like a tennis ball, “If you’re scared of condoms, be more scared of tennis balls—they contain a lot more rubber!”

Before TAC and the commissioners headed off on their march and on their community condom demonstrations, the crowd was treated to some words of wisdom from former President of Botswana Festus G. Mogae.

“I was the first African president to report to the UN that my country was in trouble,” he told those gathered. “We became the first to give out antiretroviral therapy for free. I have come here to greet you and inspire you because we are one.” He said that he had not come to preach but rather to ask everyone to carry on campaigning ‘until we win’.

“We will overcome,” he said to loud applause. “We need to all make it our business to ensure that no babies are born HIV positive. It is in our power to stop that from happening.”

UNAIDS Executive Director Mr Sidibé highlighted the significance of the event: “Today’s condom march shows that people with HIV are essential partners in movement for Positive Health, Dignity and Prevention.”

The condom march in Khayelitsha was part of a three-day programme convened by the UNAIDS High Level Commission on HIV Prevention in the Mother City. Other events included a panel discussion on social media and mobile technology in the prevention of HIV, and an historical gathering on Robben Island the following day where Desmond Tutu symbolically passed the baton of HIV activism to a group of youth leaders who, he hoped, would join him in stopping the spread of HIV.

As the 2010 World Cup kicks off this Friday, thousands of football fans will arrive in South Africa to cheer on their favourite teams.

HIV awareness and prevention is also a high priority during this time. HIV can spread particularly among young people, through the dangerous combination of alcohol and unsafe sex.

As HIV can be spread through unprotected sex, condoms are vital to protecting people from HIV infection. Male and female condoms are the most efficient, available technologies to reduce the sexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

And to reduce the risk of HIV transmission, advocates count on making condoms readily available. Previously successful campaigns have included free condoms in match venues, hotels, stadiums, bars, and clubs. As one fan said, “condoms are more useful with me than in a warehouse.”

Condoms are a key component of the combination prevention package to reduce the sexual transmission of HIV. Other components include delay of sexual initiation, abstinence, being mutually faithful to each other when both partners are uninfected, and reducing the number of sexual partners.

UNAIDS commends the South African government’s commitment to distribute condoms during the World Cup. We support the efforts carried out by the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) and civil society groups, including the Treatment Action Campaign and AIDS Consortium, to ensure that condoms and HIV information are made widely available during the tournament.

Each day, 7 400 people are infected with HIV worldwide. In South Africa, the host of this year’s World Cup, 5.7 million people are living with HIV ─ the largest number worldwide.

This story was first published on UNFPA.org

Clients at Kevin's Reflextions have an opportunity to talk about HIV.
Credit: Carina Wint

Barber shops across Georgetown, Guyana, are buzzing with chatter about the latest trends, community happenings, neighbourhood gossip and now, ways to protect young people from AIDS. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in collaboration with UNAIDS Secretariat, has identified barber shops and beauty salons as information hubs, and is using them to spread the word about HIV prevention.

The project involves the training of shop staff to answer simple HIV-related questions, pass out informational material, dispense both male and female condoms to clients – and even provide on-site counselling and testing. As a result, young people in Guyana are given access to information and resources not readily available elsewhere in their communities. And this is important because their small country (population 751, 223) has one of the highest HIV prevalence levels in the region: about 1.6 per cent for pregnant women, according to UNAIDS. Among sex workers, prevalence rises up to 26.6 per cent.

Male and female condoms are available at selected hair salons.
Credit: Carina Wint

Juanita Huburn, a customer at DJ’s Magic Fingers, a hair salon that participates in the programme, described Guyanese society as “closed” when it comes to issues regarding sexuality. “You do not talk about sex, they just say you should not have sex, but this is not realistic,” she said.

Shops and salons were chosen based on their location in malls, parks, popular attractions, or low-income communities. Owners who opened their doors to the project got added marketing exposure for their small businesses and were provided with incentives, such as access to promotional materials. “Shops were informed how their companies would be promoted through the project, and the economic value of participating,” said UNFPA Guyana Liaison Officer, Patrice La Fleur “They would most importantly provide safe places to discuss sexuality and the prevention of HIV.”

Once the locations were identified, two employees from each shop were sent for training on basic HIV education and prevention means. They were also taught to properly monitor the project and introduced to safe practices within the context of their own work (for example, ensuring the sterility of hair cutting machines, razors, needles for stitching and weaving, manicure and pedicure implements, and tattooing and body piercing equipment).

In addition to training participants about sexual and reproductive health and gender issues, the project also focuses on building life skills such as communication, healthy relationships, and leadership. “Participants expressed personal gains in their quality of relationships with friends, family, and clients,” said UNFPA Programme Officer, Babsie Giddings who monitors the project.

DJ's Magic Fingers hair salon is another venue for building awareness of HIV prevention.
Credit: Carina Wint

Since the programme was put in place businesses report a steady boost in clientele and more shops have come on board. “Business has increased about 5 per cent since we joined this programme,” said Kevin John, owner of the Barber Shop Kevin’s Reflections. He believes it may be partly because people know his salon equipment is sanitized. Currently over 7000 male and 400 female condoms are distributed monthly by requests in the shops and salons.

Work on the project was initiated last year through efforts of the UN Country Theme Group and it has been fully funded by UNAIDS. Also collaborating on the project is a local NGO, Youth Challenge Guyana.

UNFPA provides continuous support with regular follow-ups and monitoring for participating barber shops and salons. The project aims to afford some 2000 young people access to information, skills, services and supplies they can use to protect their health.