Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Reuters NewMedia, Inc. - Thursday, 28 November 1996 1:41 PM EST

UNAIDS, the UN joint agency on the deadly HIV infection, said female condoms were an important new weapon against infection.

"Making the female condom more accessible is an important step forward in increasing the prevention arsenal for women," Peter Piot, director of the UNAIDS program, said.

"The female condom, along with other approaches...is especially important in cultures and situations in which women have limited control over sexual decisions."

The Chicago-based Female Health Company said it had signed a three-year agreement with UNAIDS "to provide a global public sector price for the female condom."

Each of the 193 countries taking part in UNAIDS can buy the condom in bulk at a discount.

"The price varies from country to country," said Alison Miles, a spokeswoman for FHC. "They will work out a price based on the quantity. It will be confidential between UNAIDS and FHC. But it will be substantially below the market price." The condom, marketed as "Reality" in the United States, costs $3 there. It is sold as "femy" in Spain, and "Femidom" across the rest of the world, where it is available in 14 countries. It costs $7.50 for a packet of three in Britain.

FHC said 80 countries had already responded to the offer, demanding seven million condoms for 1997.

Piot told a news conference called ahead of World AIDS Day on December 1 that the condom offered a new option to women trying to control their sexual destinies.

"Research on feasibility in Thailand, Senegal, Zimbabwe show it can work," he said. "Women like it, use it and often men don't even notice it. That might be hard to understand but it is reality."

"It certainly isn't the ideal option but it is an option," agreed Noerine Kaleeba, community mobilisation adviser for UNAIDS.

AIDS prevention efforts have focused on the male condom, but women complain that men refuse to use it.

Health workers say that women often have no say over the use of a condom -- even in western countries where they are supposedly "liberated."

Nonetheless, Kaleeba said, men looked to women to watch out for their own health. "There is this idea among men that women are responsible for contraception," she said.

The condom consists of a loose-fitting polyurethane sheath joined by two flexible rings. One fits inside the vagina, somewhat like a diaphragm, while another one holds the tube open on the outside.
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