United Press International - Tuesday, 14 August 2001

The Boston Globe reported Tuesday that in the next few weeks the United States will buy up to 550 million condoms for free distribution among the poor in the Third World.

In doing so, U.S. officials have to decide whether to buy more condoms at a cheaper rate from foreign manufacturers and save more lives or buy expensive ones at home and save jobs.

In the past two manufacturers in Alabama made condoms for the U.S. Agency for International Development, which distributes them outside the United States.

But this practice may change soon as the United States is seriously considering a proposal to buy condom from factories in Asia because it is cheaper to do so.

Since the project aims at providing free condoms to the poor as protection against deadly diseases like AIDS, health experts say they want to reach as many people as possible.

They argue that buying condoms at 2.3 cents a piece from an Asian factory, compared to 6.3 cents a piece from the two Alabama factories, could allow them to reach almost three times as many people as they do now.

But the move could also put 282 jobs in the United States at risk. These are the people who work at the two Alabama factories that currently make condoms for developing nations.

"We make high quality condoms that provide full protection to those who use them," says Lillie C. Thomas, the vice president of operations for LMR International, Eufaula, Ala., the biggest producer of U.S.-made condoms sent to the developing countries.

But global health specialists say the priority should be to get the most condoms for the money. "And the (Asian condoms) are being made to just as high a standard as those in Alabama," said Christian Saunders, chief United Nations condom procurement officer.

The two Alabama condom makers are expected to be the only bidders for a U.S. AID contract for the purchase of 150 to 250 million condoms this year. LMR already has a contract to make 250 million condoms this year, while the other Alabama factory -- Alatech -- will make 48 million, U.S. officials said.

Factory officials say labors costs accounts for much of the difference between them and the Asian manufacturers. Thomas said that in Alabama wages start at $6.50 per hour, while some Asian plants pay workers as little as 12 to 28 cents an hour.

Asked what would happen if they did not get the U.S. contract, Thomas told the Globe: "The factory shuts down."

Perhaps, that's why U.S. officials say they have not yet made the final decision. "We are looking at a number of things, including where a quality product can be obtained at a lower price," said Paul R. De Lay, the head of the HIV/AIDS global bureau at U.S. AID.

He and other agency officials hope that competition between the factories would drive down the prices in the United States as well.

But "the logic of buying more condoms for the same amount of money is awfully persuasive," says William P. Schellstede, senior vice president of Family Health International, a North Carolina-based group that promotes family planning around the world.
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