BMJ 2001;323:937 ( 20 October )

Letters

Condom gap in Africa is wider than study suggests

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR---Shelton and Johnston's short report on the unmet need for condoms in sub-Saharan Africa reminds us of how far we are from meeting the urgent demand for the simplest and least expensive method of preventing HIV infection.1 Our recent research in South Africa suggests that their calculations are substantial underestimates.

In a cohort study of people procuring public sector condoms from health facilities across South Africa2 participants (age range 14-63) reported an average of seven episodes of sexual intercourse a month, or 84 a year.3 At this rate, slightly more than one billion condoms would be required to protect each sexual act of the roughly 12 million South African men aged 15-59. If these rates extend across sub-Saharan Africa the unmet need for condoms is probably closer to 13 billion than the 1.9 billion estimated in the paper. In addition, our research suggests that only half of the condoms distributed through the public . . . [Full text of this article]
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Relevant Article

Condom gap in Africa: evidence from donor agencies and key informants
James D Shelton and Beverly Johnston
BMJ 2001 323: 139. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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