CONGO: You, me and the condom
Photo: IRIN
Don't forget the condom
Brazzaville, 6 June 2008 (PlusNews) - After a long day's work at a printing office in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo (RoC), André Mikangou* usually buys a bottle of beer at the local petrol station shop and gets some locally produced Ami-3 condoms from the vending machine.
"I slipped my 100 CFA franc (US$0.28) coin into the vending machine and a three-pack of condoms dropped down," said Mikangou, who is in his fifties.
"Many people who have used this very simple service told me about this facility to get hold of condoms immediately. I didn't believe it, but now I can't doubt it any more. I am going to try these condoms that everyone is talking about," he told IRIN/PlusNews before finishing his beer in one go and heading off to catch a taxi.
The vending machine is located in a convenience store at petrol station that is open nearly 24 hours a day in Makélékélé, a densely populated neighbourhood in the south of Brazzaville.
Condom dispensers are now found in most of the RoC's busiest towns, thanks to an initiative by the National AIDS Council (Conseil national de lutte contre le sida - CNLS), in partnership with the UN Population Fund, which has installed around 40 machines across the country to promote condoms.
"The term, 'Ami 3', comes from the fact that because of AIDS, the act of sex no longer involves two parties, but three: me, my partner and the condom, which is becoming unavoidable," said Maurice Ndefi, director of the association to support community health initiatives (Association pour l’appui aux initiatives de santé communautaire - AAISC).
AAISC, which runs Ami 3's marketing programme, set up a condom distribution and sales network in 2007, covering 12 states in the RoC, including Sangha State in the north, where 82 percent of the people living with HIV are found. The national HIV prevalence rate is estimated at 4.2 percent.
Last year about seven million male condoms were distributed by various outlets, 300,000 of which were bought from vending machines installed in areas frequented most regularly by young people, particularly dance bars, university campuses, theme parks and hotels. Petrol stations were also targeted, as taxi and bus drivers are one of the sections of society most exposed to infection, according to CNLS.
The third partner
To make consumers more aware of the need to use condoms, an advertisement is aired every evening in a popular television programme from Cote d'Ivoire, broadcast on Congolese national television. "In the age of AIDS, relations with three parties, not two, are safer and more reliable," the characters from the series remind viewers.
The packs of three cost 100 CFA francs ($0.28) from vending machines and 50 CFA francs ($0.14) from other distribution points like hospitals and pharmacies. They are also handed out free at specific awareness events.
"Ami 3 is well received by young people. They are well lubricated, strong, extra-thin and do not tear easily," said Lydie Blanche Mahoundi, who is responsible for promotion, information, education and communication at AAISC.
Juliette Ngoma, a student at the Marien Ngouabi University in Brazzaville, agreed: "Even the packaging of Ami 3 is reassuring. It is really easy to use. It would only rip if the man was being violent."
Young people are not the only ones receptive to the condom promotion messages, and willing to take advantage of being able to buy them discretely and easily, said Achille Mongo, one of the people in charge of a petrol station with a vending machine.
"Young people and adults are coming down to the station all the time to buy their condoms," he said. "Some days there are more older people than young coming to stock up on supplies."
According to the last sentinel survey carried out by the national health authorities in 2003, with support from the World Bank, 95 percent of people living with HIV in Congo were infected while having sex. AAISC plans to make the same quantity of condoms available in 2008.
* Not real name
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Theme (s): HIV/AIDS (PlusNews), Media - PlusNews, Prevention - PlusNews,
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]