India: Bid to Expand Female Condom Program to 17 States

In the next few months, India will expand its female condom program from eight states to 17, HIV prevention officials said recently.

India used to import female condoms, a costly practice, but the National AIDS Control Organization now purchases them from Hindustan Latex Limited. NACO buys the condoms for 20 rupees (43 US cents) each and provides them to sex workers for 3.50 rupees (8 US cents).

A year-long feasibility and acceptability study involving 60,000 women in eight states found 60 percent were repeat buyers, and 98 percent were comfortable using the condoms. The study analyzed uptake among female sex workers and family planning programs at 13 sites. The pilot also found a reduction in unprotected sex.

"The pilot project was highly successful, showing consistent use of [female condoms]," said Gaurav Jain, head of condom promotion at NACO. "We, therefore, propose to further scale up the program in two or three districts in each of the nine [new] states. At present, India has 2.4 million HIV patients, of which nearly 40 percent are women."

Back to other news for August 2010