Demand For Female Condom Increases Against Inadequate Stocks: FGAE

Addis Ababa, April 3(ENA)-- The Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia (FGAE) said though the demand for Female Condom (FC) has increased since it begun distribution some six months ago, there is no adequate stock due to the expensiveness of the FC.

Eventhough FC was a recently introduced technology in the country, its users have increased more than expected since FGAE starts implementing a project entitled " Expanding Access to Coital Dependent Methods Within Youth Centered Health Care Facilities" in its selected service delivery outlets, the association said.

In an interview with ENA on Wednesday, Project Coordinator, Chane Addisu said the number of women using FC has reached 200 in six months alone (between July 2002 and January 2003).

He, however, said the current FC stock of the association was inadequate despite the growing number of users from time to time. "The association has begun the implementation of the project with only 5,500 FC it received in donation from the Ministry of Health and DKT-Ethiopia," he added.

Because female condoms are expensive, it would be difficult for the association to have enough stocks, Chane said, adding, ''There are no more than 300 female condoms currently within its five service outlets currently."

The price of each female condom is O.70 USD (about 7.00 Birr), but the association is supplying them free of charge.

" From Aug. 2002-Dec. 2003, there were 149 attendants, who came seeking for FC to our service delivery sites set up in Awassa, Nazreth, Harar and Gonder towns, he said, adding, ''Each client might take 5-10 FC at a time, which would make it difficult for the association to meet the demand."

The project was established in Dec. 2000 with the objective of introducing female condom and emergency contraceptives, Chane said, adding, it is being implemented in five sites set up in the stated towns including Addis Ababa.

The promotion of Female Condom is not an easy task and needs various things including its availability in service delivery outlets, training of service providers on its usage and preparation of very attractive IEC materials, Chane said.

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