MALAWI: Education to boost popularity of female condom

A year after the female condom was re-launched in Malawi amid high hopes it would empower women to have more control in their sexual relationships and better protection against sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unwanted pregnancies, usage has remained relatively low.

The female condom was first piloted in 2000 at selected clinics throughout the country, with funding from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). In 2008, the government launched a new and easier to insert version of the female condom to be distributed at clinics at no charge. Population Services International (PSI), an international non-profit social marketing organization, also started selling its "CARE" female condom, at a cost of 35 Malawian Kwacha (US$0.25) for a pack of two.

Nearly one million female condoms were distributed in 2008, and the number of women using them has increased from 0.3 percent in 2004 to 3 percent, but according to Sandra Mapemba, condom programme coordinator at UNFPA, "We need to raise the level of awareness. Women have to know how to use it, and its functions; those who find it difficult to insert have no proper knowledge on usage."

UNFPA is training health service providers and other outlets to educate women about using the condom. "We only put them [condoms] in sites where training has taken place," Mapemba told IRIN/PlusNews. "Previously, we put them everywhere and they sat there gathering dust."

Rose Chipumphula, a mother of one living in Balaka Township in southern Malawi, agreed that there was a need for more education. "I have heard women saying the female condom causes cancer; others fear it can easily burst and cause irreparable health problems in the womb. But if you look at all this, you know that these are lies, and that these women just need right information."

Chikondi [last name withheld], who sells CARE female condoms at the hair salon she runs in Blantyre, the country's commercial hub, said she always instructed customers in how to use them.

"So far, none of my customers have complained about the female condom. It's just that every time there is a new product on the shelf, people speculate about it either positively or negatively - it's the same with the hair products we have here."

According to UNFPA, Malawi has an adult HIV prevalence rate of 12 percent, and 110,000 new HIV infections occur every year: 58 percent in women, and 46 percent in people aged 15 to 24.

In addition to the female condoms, 27 million male condoms were distributed in 2008, but only about 28 percent of Malawians used any form of contraception. Mapemba said about 45 percent of the pregnancies occurring in women between 15 and 24 were unplanned and unwanted as a result.

Phales Nankhoma, a mother of five living in Machinjiri Township in Blantyre, said she had heard about the female condom from a friend, but had never seen one.

"If it protects one from infection and unplanned pregnancies, then it's okay," she commented. "A lot of women have landed in trouble because the man did not wear a condom, or deliberately tampered with it."