Ugandan women are not buying the female condom. They have complained it is too expensive, too bulky and too noisy during sex, news reports said on Tuesday.
The head of the Health Ministry’s condom unit, Vasta Kibirige, told reporters and delegates to a family planning conference in the town of Munyonyo that the government is suspending its efforts to promote the female condom because it is not widely accepted.
Women have complained about the price of female condoms and described them as ”large, intimidating and noisy during intercourse”, Kibirige said.
A package of three female condoms — manufactured by Female Health Company of Britain and sold under the brand name Femidom — costs 25 US cents in Uganda, about 10 times the price of the male version.
Uganda had one of the world’s highest rates of HIV infection in the early 1990s but aggressive promotion of safe sex by the government has made it an Aids-prevention success story. — Sapa-DPA