N.Y.C. Health Department Unveils New Official Condom as Part of HIV Prevention Efforts

New York City health officials on Wednesday unveiled the city's new official condom as part of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's efforts to curb the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, as well as to prevent unintended pregnancies, the AP/Google.com reports (Kugler, AP/Google.com, 2/13).

The health department in January 2007 approved a $1.57 million contract to deliver Ansell Healthcare's Lifestyle condoms and packets of lubricant to organizations and venues in the city. The health department will pay Ansell four cents per condom, putting the cost of the program at about $720,000 annually, according to health officials. Officials plan to track the progress of the program through an annual community health survey, which polls 10,000 city residents by telephone. Organizations or venues can request an unlimited supply of condoms at no cost through an online ordering system set up by the health department.

City health officials in February 2007 unveiled the first official condom, which featured a subway theme with different colors for various train lines (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 5/9/07). The new condoms -- which were redesigned by Yves Behar of the San Francisco-based agency fuseproject -- features the letters "NYC" in black and the word "CONDOM" directly below it in bright colors (AP/Google.com, 2/13). The condom packages also feature the new slogan "Get some," the New York Post reports (Edozien, New York Post, 2/14). According to the AP/Google.com, teams from the health department will begin distributing the condoms around the city Thursday. An ad campaign featuring the new slogan is also scheduled to launch soon on television, radio, subways and buses.

"We want to give away as many condoms as people will use because we're trying to make New York City an even safer place to have sex, and this is a powerful way to do it," Monica Sweeney, assistant commissioner for HIV prevention and control at the health department, said (AP/Google.com, 2/13). She added, "We gave out more than 36 million of [the condoms] last year. I hope the fresh look will help even more New Yorkers protect themselves from infection and unintended pregnancy in 2008" (New York Post, 2/14).

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