District of Columbia: The Condoms? Please, Take One

Over the next two months, six local community groups are coming together in the Life Guard Project, a grassroots dissemination of 30,000 condoms and HIV prevention information kits in some of the worst-hit District neighborhoods.

"The idea is to get the word out: Here's a packet that can save your life," said Franck DeRose, executive director of the Condom Project.

The Life Guard Project is a response to a perceived lag in condom-distribution efforts by the D.C. Administration for HIV Policy and Programs. AHPP distributed just 290,000 condoms in 2004 and only a quarter of its goal of 600,000 condoms in 2005. In 2006, the total will be less than 105,000 condoms.

"This helps to fill that gap and address that need," Barbara Chinn, director of the Whitman-Walker Clinic's Max Robinson Center in Southeast. "Because that need is now."

Many District neighborhoods lack easy access to condoms. This fall, a community group confronted CVS for locking its condoms away, persuading the retailer to keep open displays of at least some. CVS is also donating 2,000 condoms for organizers to distribute on the street.

AHPP Director Marsha Martin's September announcement that her agency would distribute 1 million condoms through unorthodox channels remains in a contracts and procurement limbo. However, AHPP's campaign to test all residents ages 14-84 could be paired with condom distribution, she said. A design contest for the condom bowls will help brand the campaign and attract business participation.

Ideally, outlets would be open 24 hours a day, so the project is identifying potential sites during late-night drives through Wards 7 and 8, both of which have high AIDS mortality rates. Volunteers will monitor uptake and make sure sites are well-stocked.

Back to other news for December 7, 2006