Campaign Touts Female Condoms

The public health department in Toronto, Canada, is launching a campaign to encourage women to use female condoms to prevent unwanted pregnancies and STD infections. Posters, brochures, and about 35,000 female condoms are being placed in clinics, community agencies and bars across the city as part of the $80,000 program. "Although there is broad acceptance of the male condom, there are still many women who have not been able to get their partner to use one," said Dr. Sheela Basrur, Toronto's medical officer of health, in a news release. "The female condom provides another option."

The campaign targets adult women, who may be more comfortable using a condom than high school girls, according to Barbara Macpherson, a health education consultant with the public health department. "Female condoms started in the early 1990s and originally it was seen as a novelty item. Now, people are more willing to revisit it," she said.

Every year about 20,000 women in Toronto have an unplanned pregnancy, and 5,000 are infected with STDs, including HIV. Those statistics are highlighted in the campaign's graphic posters, which may raise some eyebrows. Pictured is an image of a naked female body with a large caption outlining the pubic area. The last sentence advises women: "It's time we take control. Give your vagina a choice." The phone number for the AIDS and Sexual Health Info Line -- 416-392-2437 -- is also included on the poster. While "there's always a concern" some people may be offended by the image, "the poster was very well-liked by focus groups," Macpherson said.

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