Continuous promotion necessary for female condoms

Continuous promotion necessary for female condoms – GRPA

Aug 19, 2008 News

Although the use of female condoms as an effective method of contraception has been recently highlighted by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), reports are that there is still need for its continued promotion in the local society.

This notion was emphasised by an official of the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA) yesterday.

According to the official, the condom is distributed free of cost at the GRPA Youth Friendly Clinic on South Road, but despite constant demonstrations, people have still to accept that the female condom can be just as effective as the male condom.

She disclosed that it is not uncommon for persons to query the shape and size of the condom and wonder if it could physically hurt them.

It is the belief of the official that, so far, the female condom is not being widely utilised, although there is evidence that more and more persons are opting to try it, which was regarded as a “good thing.”

However, according to GRPA’s Programme Coordinator, Nurse Sheila Yaw-Fraser, no formal survey has been done to determine to what extent the female condom is being utilised. She speculated, though, that the response has been good.

She noted that the GRPA, like several other organisations, has been holding sensitisation seminars countrywide, affording women a chance to learn more about the effectiveness of the condom.

Nurse Yaw-Fraser said that while there are some women who are ignorant about the method of contraception, others are more aware but express some reluctance to completely embracing its use.

It is for this reason, she said, that GRPA has been placing major emphasis on promoting sensitisation sessions.

She noted that while the condom is available at the GRPA’s Quamina Street head office at a minimal cost, it is available at all youth-friendly centres absolutely free.

Earlier this year, UNFPA launched a female condom pilot initiative with the collaboration of several Government ministries and non-governmental organisations, which included the GRPA.

At that launch, UNFPA Liaison Officer, Ms Patrice La Fleur, said that the venture was being introduced as part of the entity’s sexual and reproductive health strategic programme, as well as its gender equity and equality programme.

She said that the female condom is a tool, or device, which was designed several years ago to give women, in particular, power over their sexuality.

Ms La Fleur pointed out that the initiative was engaged based on the fact that women are sometimes challenged to make decisions about their sexuality as it relates to contraceptives and protection from sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS.

The female condom, the Liaison Officer said, has the potential to ably protect women. She disclosed that a similar venture was launched in 2006 with the St Francis Community Development and the GRPA, which had then yielded mixed responses.

For this reason, she said, the UNFPA this year has decided to expand the work that it has been doing in this regard, even including several other partners to implement specific projects.

The objective of the initiative, she noted, is to increase the use and acceptance of the female condom in Guyana through increased knowledge, awareness and accessibility to the device.

The other partnering organisations in the female condom pilot project are: the Ministries of Health, Culture Youth and Sport, Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Youth Challenge Guyana, Help and Shelter, Artistes in Direct Support, the Network of Guyanese Living With and Affected by HIV, St Francis Community Developers, and the Women’s Studies Unit of the University of Guyana.