Condoms-one certainty in the fight against AIDS

ABSTRACT

Extra long, ribbed, studded, mint-flavoured, sheer fitting, lubricated, edible, glow in the dark the list is enticing. And if there is one certainty in the AIDS endemic, it is that a condom, if used correctly, can prevent HIV infection. In the Caribbean, however, the sexually active who are most at risk are failing to act sufficiently on the information. Among STD clinic attenders in Kingston, the prevalence of HIV infection has increased "tenfold" in the last four years. In a survey of 90 people with repeat STDs in the popular tourist area of Montego Bay, 10 percent tested HIV-positive. Also in Montego Bay, one in four of about 50 female prostitutes were found to have the AIDS virus. A survey of Kingston's female prostitutes found more than 10 percent were HIV-positive. These results had serious implications for people outside of the tested groups, because it was from these who were tested positive, that HIV spreads to the general population. The special education programmes targeted at the high-risk groups must be strengthened considerably, and access to condom needed to be improved considerably. In this connection, the National AIDS Programme was developing a strategy for widespread distribution of condoms through the private sector. Condom-use skills were being promoted because apparantly many people do not know how to use condoms correctly. Reports of condoms bursting were invariably, indicators of poor techniques and have little to do with sexual prowess (AU)