Condom effectiveness in reducing heterosexual HIV transmission
RHL practical aspects by Wilkinson D
FIRST CONTACT (PRIMARY CARE) LEVEL AND REFERRAL HOSPITAL (SECONDARY CARE) LEVEL
Health-care services should consider ways of increasing access to, and use of, condoms through their facilities. Health-care workers should seize every opportunity to promote condoms since it is hard for people to maintain their motivation to use them. Individual consultations—especially those relating to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, family planning and pregnancy—offer the best opportunity for this. An additional strategy could be to make a large box full of condoms available to anyone who visits the clinic. This box could be placed somewhere that allows people to access it without being in full view of everyone else. Personal experience in parts of Africa indicates that this can be a highly effective way of distributing large numbers of condoms with minimum effort.
AT HOME OR IN THE COMMUNITY
It is also important to promote condom use within communities and to give clear health promotion messages to potential users. Clear instructions on how to use condoms are important for many people, and imaginative ways of doing this can be considered. For example, in some settings teachers may be able to promote condom use (including how to use them) among their adolescent students. In other settings a small number of young people could be trained to inform their peers about using condoms and how to use them.
This document should be cited as: Wilkinson D. Condom effectiveness in reducing heterosexual HIV transmission: RHL practical aspects (last revised: 11 November 2002). The WHO Reproductive Health Library; Geneva: World Health Organization.