The female condom comes to India
14 April 2009
Women in India have a new way to protect themselves against HIV and other
infections thanks to the arrival in the country of the female condom.
Marketed under the brand name "Velvet", the transparent sheaths offer the same protection as traditional, male
condoms.
The only female contraceptive available globally, these condoms are also the only new STI prevention device introduced since the advent of the HIV pandemic.
Reaching sex workers
The Velvet condoms, which have been made available through a DFID grant to two contraceptive-makers, the UK-based Female Health Company and the Indian government-owned Hindustan Latex Limited, are sold at a low cost or distributed for free through public health programmes.
Sex workers in particular have benefited from the condoms' easy availability. As Pushpa, from the coastal city of Chennai, says: "When a client says no to a male condom, I don't insist, I just use the female condom". Six hundred thousand of the condoms have already been distributed in four states - Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Andrah Pradesh and Maharastra - by over 200 non-governmental organisations, potentially reaching around 200,000 sex workers.
Sustaining the market
Before 2003, when the partnership between Velvet's makers began, no female condoms were available in India. Now, the condoms are manufactured in Hindustan Latex's factory in the south-western state of Kerala, with technical assistance from the Female Health Company's UK factory.
Building a manufacturing base for
the condoms is one of the two key aims of the programme. The second is to build
a market for female condoms.
To help achieve this, a wide-reaching publicity campaign has been carried out. Based on detailed research into attitudes towards
female contraceptives in different communities across India, the campaign has
included posters and a survey of "romantic triggers" for women, the results of
which are hosted on a special
website.
Facts and stats
- Research shows that female condoms are as effective as male condoms in preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
- The Velvet female condom became available through a £952,000 grant from DFID’s Business Linkage Challenge Fund and the Emerging Market Group. The Female Health Company and Hindustan Latex Limited matched this funding with a cash contribution of £1,133,000.
- Sex workers and peer educators participating in trials of Velvet re-purchased female condoms between nine to 12 times. Their main reasons for doing so were the cost of health check-ups and their concerns about the cost of care if they became HIV-positive.
- A survey found that 65% of sex workers spontaneously introduced the female condom to a client if he refused to use a male condom. It also found that 70% of sex workers introduced the female condom by showing clients how it can enhance pleasure.
- This programme has enabled the price of the female condom to be reduced by 30%, as overheads and labour costs have fallen. It is hoped that, as the operation expands, production costs will drop and the global price of the condoms will be further reduced.
- The National AIDS Commission of India has to date bought 3 million female condoms for distribution through public health programmes.
