| GMCarter 2004-11-16, 3:51 pm |
| Condom Still Most Effective Against HIV/Aids - Expert
This Day (Lagos)
November 11, 2004
Posted to the web November 12, 2004
Agha Ibiam
Tanzania
Against the backdrop that the use of condom does not give 100 per
cent protection from contacting HIV/AIDS during sexual intercourse,
an expert in public health has posited that the use of condom still
remains the most tested and effective method of preventing pregnancy
and sexually transmitted diseases.
At a workshop organised for journalists on reporting on HIV/AIDS in
Southern Africa by the International Institute for Journalism (IIJ)
of InWent in Arusha, Tanzania, Dr. (Mrs.) Regina Gorgen, an advisor
in HIV/AIDS and sexual reproductive health, faulted assumption that
the use of condom does not guarantee safe sex.
She said recent international research indicates that male condom
breakage ranges from zero to 12 per cent, with many of the US-based
studies falling in the two to five per cent range.
According to her, the per centage of condom that slip off the penis
during or after intercourse is in a similar range. Quoting a Family
Health International (FHI) study, Gogen noted that most condom users
rarely experience condom breakage and slippage. She said a small
group of users is often responsible for a majority of the breaks and
slips. "In the study, 177 couples used 1,947 condoms and reported a
combined breakage/slippage rate of 8.7 per cent. If every couple were
likely to experience condom breakage, then each couple would have
been expected to have about 1 out 11 condoms either break or slip off.
"In this study, 16 couples which was less than 10 per cent of
participants were responsible for 50 per cent of all the
breakage/slippage. Well over half the couples did not experience any
condom breakage/slippage among 11 condoms each couple used", she said.
She pointed out several reasons for condom failure, which include,
opening the package with sharp objects or teeth, incorrect methods of
putting on the condom (pulling it on like a socks), use of oil-based
lubricant, lengthy and vigorous intercourse, using condoms for non-
vaginal intercourse, not holding rim of condom during withdrawal and
re-use of condoms.
Equally of importance she mentioned was that not all
breakage/slippage exposes the condom user to the same risks as
researchers have begun to distinguish between clinical and non-
clinical breakage.
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