Online Reporter
The Herald
21 October 1993
THE campaign for the use of male condoms in Zimbabwe initially met with stiff resistance among men until the Aids pandemic started claiming their loved ones and is now widely used although specialists say the rate is still low.
And now some preliminary studies have shown that Zimbabwean women accept idea of the female condom and should further studies confirm the initial findings, the device could soon be available in Zimbabwe, thereby introducing an extra shield against the Aids epidemic.
Research on introducing the device, now widely available in Europe and the United States, has been prompted by a rapid rise in the past five years of HIV infection among adults in urban areas, now estimated at between 10 and 15 percent.
In the face of the grim statistics, the National Aids Control Programme has promoted male condom use and reduction in the number of partners. However, studies have shown that while awareness of the deadly Aids virus has increased substantially nationwide, behavioural change, particularly the adoption and use of the male condom, has been less encouraging.
A study by Dr Mike Mbizvo of the University of Zimbabwe medical school’s department of obstetrics has shown that only about eight percent of Zimbabwean men regularly use the condom.
This is despite that more than 90 percent of Zimbabwean men have heard about the Aids epidemic and that about 60 percent know that the disease is fatal.
Promotion of the use of the femidom (or femi-shield), as the device is called, as an alternative shield or family planning device is based on the argument that the male condom is controlled by men and its use largely depends on male initiative.
