• Share
• Tweet
• Share
• Pin
• Email

Despite the overwhelming need for improved options for devices that can protect a woman from both pregnancy and STIs and the proven
effectiveness of a condom to address this, the female condom is still
poor availability 14 years after product approval. This is chiefly due
to price: in 2006 it was estimated to cost 27 times more than the male condom. This has limited its access even where there is a demand

To achieve a very significant price reduction, use needs to raise the
current uptake from 14 million in 2005 to at least 300 million
worldwide . Current efforts at facilitating a price reduction and
increasing possible uptake includes the development and producting of latex female condoms. India is a known production site for latex female condoms

A number of country programmes are expanding access to female condoms.
A good example is India with the Government proactively engaged with piloting programmes that would increase use and female condom uptake. UNFPA is also developing large-scale projects with a number of partners. Further uptake could be facilitate through NPT clincial trial sights especially those conducting studies on female initiated barriers and microbicide studies. Phase III Microbicide trials engage over 4,000 women in their studies and indirectly have contact with over twice that number. Including female condoms in the prevention package and empowering women to use this condom (appropriate site demonstration of female condom insertion) would help further in its uptake. There has also been interest in the adaptation of the diaphragm (a family planning device which covers the upper part of the vagina known as the cervix) and other cervical barriers for HIV prevention. The cervix is known to have a lot of CD4 cells and thus an active point for HIV ifnection. Protecting the cervix from HIV infection may therefore possibly reduce women’s rate of HIV infection However the first major study of the diaphragm failed to show benefit. This was known as the MIRA study which engaged about 5,000 women to use a diaphragm and lubricant, or lubricant alone. The study found no significant difference in HIV incidence between the study arms (those that used the diaphragm and lubricant and those that used lubricant alone). A study of the effectiveness of the diaphragm in preventing sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is however still underway in Madagascar. we do know that STIs increase vulnerability to HIV infection because it causes ulcerations in the skin, vaginal lining or lining of the wrine tract in male thereby creating a route through which the virus could get into the body.

However, not all diaphragms are of the same design, and different
devices may have differing acceptability. A range of products are now
being developed, some designed to be used with a microbicide:

•BufferGel Duet: the Duet is a sombrero-shaped diaphragm which, when lubricated with microbicide, should ensure coverage of the
microbicide in the cervix and the vagina .

•SILCS diaphragm (PATH) is a single-size cervical barrier, designed
to provide the same effectiveness as standard diaphragm, while being easier to supply and provide. Extensive input from women in developed and developing countries ensures the design is comfortable, easy to use, and sleek.

• Share
• Tweet
• Share
• Pin
• Email