Reusing the female condom

The high cost of the female condom has led to the controversial practice, particularly in developing countries, of reuse.

But soon-to-be launched World Health Organisation (WHO) programmatic guidelines for reuse will provide helpful information to programme managers who need to make decisions regarding reuse.

In July 2002 WHO published a clinical protocol which stated that a new condom is always preferable. But in situations where they are not available or affordable, evidence suggests that the female condom can be used safely at least five times if the WHO guidelines are followed.

Many HIV/AIDS advocacy groups see female condoms as a significant new alternative women can use to better protect themselves against infection.

The challenge will be to make sure that information on correctly reusing them reaches women - the hardest-hit population group.

"While it is encouraging that these guidelines have been released, it is important that the message gets across to those who need it. Women will need to know what to use to wash it," Mary Kawonga, of South Africa's Women's Health Project, told PlusNews.

The use of the female condom was still not widespread enough. Part of the reason, she explained, was its limited appeal.

"It's unfortunate, because many women find it a little uncomfortable, it's noisy and it's difficult to insert," Kawonga noted.

"It's also distressing that it is not available easily - where there is a need for it, we should be able to access it. But this is still not the case," she added.

To support the WHO guidelines, the Female Health Foundation has launched a website to assist programme managers in deciding whether or not to support reuse of the female condom in their programmes.

www.reusefemalecondom.org