The female condom was never widely accepted by women in the developed as well as in the developing countries. About 12 million female condoms are supplied each year to the poor countries compared with about 6 billion male condoms. Couples complained that the female condoms were awkward, slippery, unsightly and noisy. Now scientists are working on a new design that will overcome the earlier problems.
PATH a nonprofit organization based in Seattle has redesigned the female condom. However, the new designed product cannot overcome the glaring problem that doomed the previous product – it cannot be used secretly. For this reason even married women in developing countries, who is increasingly becoming the high-risk group for AIDS, rarely use them. In the African and Asian countries, it is a taboo to discuss condoms even within marriages. It is left mostly to the sex-workers to use condoms, only if their clients cooperate.
According to PATH, more than 90% of couples studied were satisfied with the new designed product. PATH is now seeking approval from the Food and Drug Administration so that the product could be sold in the U.S. With the drug agency’s approval, it would be easy for the organization to license the condom in the poor countries or obtain a World Health Organization endorsement.
Source & Image: New York Times