Condoms made easy

South Africa's low condom usage and high HIV/AIDS prevalence rate has prompted a leading life insurance company to develop a device to make the process of putting on a condom faster and easier.

"There is such a high AIDS awareness level here [in South Africa] but this has not translated into behaviour change. Condom use is still very minimal," Gillian Nur Samuels, an AIDS research and information consultant with Metropolitan Life, told PlusNews.

According to research done by the company's AIDS Research Unit, only a few people used condoms regularly and correctly.

"A lot of people complain that condoms reduce pleasure because they are difficult to insert, especially in the dark, but this product will change that," Metropolitan Life's Tyrel Murray said.

The condom applicator can slip a condom into place in less than three seconds, compared to the standard 30 to 40 seconds. The device, contained inside a normal condom packet, consists of two small plastic tabs with a condom suspended in the middle.

"You hold the condom packet with two hands, bend it backwards and this will cause the pack to snap open in the middle so that the condom rolls on automatically and the applicator pops off," Murray said.

"The benefits of the product are a lot more than we envisaged. For example, people now won't tear the condoms or complain about the stickiness of the condom, because they don't have to touch it," he added.

The cost of the product would not increase significantly the price of condoms. It would cost about one US cent more to produce than a normal condom, Murray noted.

According to Murray, the results from men and women involved in the initial trials had been positive. "It has generated a lot of excitement and curiosity, we have even been approached by a few condom manufacturers and distributors," he said.

The device has not yet been marketed, but will be available early next year.