KAMPALA, Dec 14 (AFP) - New rules requiring that condoms be tested before and after shipment to Uganda have caused a shortage of the rubber prophylactic, which the east African country credits for curbing the spread of HIV/AIDS, a senior health ministry official said on Wednesday.
"After detecting a batch of government-subsidized Engabu Brand condoms had developed a bad smell, we changed the procedure of importing condoms in the country, but this instead lengthened the process and triggered some shortage," health ministry National AIDS Programme Manager Elizabeth Madra told AFP by phone.
Madra said the country introduced pre- and post-shipment tests on condom consignments last September. Previously, importation was allowed if the country of origin had issued a certificate of approval for the condoms.
"We recently imported 10 million of this brand of condoms, which are supposed to be distributed countrywide free of charge, but then we still need to test them again before releasing them on the market to be on the safe side," Madra added.
The distribution chief Vastha Kibirige told journalists that Engabu brand was widely used in Uganda.
Ugandans use between 80 and 100 million condoms annually as part of the country's anti-AIDS strategy, called ABC, for "Abstinence, Be Faithful to one partner and use a Condom."
The government credits the strategy for helping reduce infection rates from as high as 30 percent in the early 1990s to about six percent currently.
Madra said that importation of all condoms were now subject to the new measures and that even those already on the market will be tested.
"We have also told our people up-country to test what they have, but because of the hitch on the Engabu brand, we are struggling to restore the confidence of the population in the brand," she said.
041214
AF041268
©AFP 2004.. All Rights Reserved. AFP articles contained on the AEGiS web site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without AFP's prior written permission. You may make one copy of each article for your personal, non-commercial use only; more copies would require AFP's prior written permission. http://www.afp.com/
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Bridgestone Firestone Trust Fund, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2004. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
©1990, 2004 - AEGiS. AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content.
