Clive Simpkins
With all the brouhaha about a national health scheme,=20 the whole issue of marketing safer sex to ill-informed,=20 superstitious and suspicious communities is in danger=20 of being eclipsed, or altogether lost. Get ready for an=20 unpopular and un-PC but vital series of observations.
The recent international Aids conference in South=20 Africa highlighted some scary trends, not least of=20 which is the unbelievable male chauvinism dominant in=20 African culture.=20
An Aids education worker was heard to say that she=20 tells black women to say “no condom, no sex” and the=20 following day the women arrive at the clinic with a=20 black eye or other injuries.
A recent SABC television programme on genetic defects=20 in babies further highlighted this black male ego=20 problem. In rural areas they simply walk out on the=20 female if she produces a defective child. The rationale=20 being that she’s bewitched or impure in some way=20 without any chance that he might be responsible.
These attitudes are really scary though, given the=20 recent announcement by Health Minister Nkosazana Zuma,=20 that the HIV infection rate in kwaZulu/Natal is, at 20=20 percent, the highest in the country.=20
It doesn’t take too much brain tissue to deduce that=20 the infection is clearly in the heterosexual population=20 and largely in the black community, based on=20 demographics alone.
The challenge facing the country, if we’re not to be=20 medically, economically and infrastructurally crippled=20 in the not too distant 10 to 15 years, is to introduce=20 the use of condoms as a norm in cultures where they’re=20 currently a no-no and equally importantly, to ensure=20 they’re available at an affordable price.
Condoms have emerged from the closet and are now=20 merchandised in all their varied glory on the front=20 counters of pharmacies and even at the corner cafe,=20 attracting quick-buck manufacturers, importers and=20 marketers. What’s not immediately obvious or important=20 to the average Caucasian, is the resulting astonishing=20 cost of safer sex.
In a random suss-out, all condoms cost more than R2 per=20 unit. Add a pretty essential accompaniment, to avoid=20 friction which might create invisible and lethal=20 lacerations in the latex, namely Johnson & Johnson’s KY=20 lubricating jelly at about R20 — yes, you read it=20 right — for the large tube.=20
Let’s assume parsimonious use of the KY, and you’ll get=20 a dozen uses out of it. That’s R2,50 per stint,=20 bringing the total cost of the indulgence to R4,50.=20 Given the statistics, which indicate a three times per=20 night frequency as not unusual in certain communities – – particularly the economically disadvantaged and=20 condom-averse ones — and you’re up to R7,50 per night=20 to practise safer sex.
Unless there’s a dramatic shift in the marketing and=20 advertising and promotions of free or at least truly=20 affordable condoms and lubricants, we might as well=20 start switching off the lights in the country.=20
Forget the national heath or Deeble option debates on=20 medical care. We might have virtually nobody around to=20 need them.