NGO to introduce condom vending machines

The Tanzania Youth AIDS Awareness Trust Fund (TAYOA), an indigenous NGO, plans to introduce an initial 10,000 condom vending dispensers in urban and rural areas country wide in an effort to slow the spread of HIV/AIDS, the ‘Guardian’ newspaper reported on Thursday. TAYOA Director Peter Masika said the decision was prompted by the fact that many shops and pharmacies selling condoms - widely promoted as a means of preventing HIV transmission during sexual contact - were closed at night, when the need for them was highest. The machines, to be imported by a Chinese partner company, would be located in hotels, bars, public areas, cinema halls and other recreational areas, the ‘Guardian’ quoted Masika as saying. The minimum price of the condoms would be 50 Tanzanian shillings (about US 6 cents) in rural areas and 100 shillings (just over US 12 cents) in urban areas, Masika added. UNAIDS has estimated that about 8 percent of Tanzanian teenagers and adults (15 to 49 years) are infected with HIV. “Although this rate is less than the hardest-hit countries in southern Africa, Tanzania still faces a great challenge in efforts to stem the epidemic,” according to the UNDP.