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Ghana’s Ministry of Health (MOH)
plans to distribute female condoms to women’s organizations, nongovernmental
organizations, and other groups to encourage their use in the country. The
announcement was made by Dr. Ebenezer Appiah-Dankyira, director general of the
Ghana Health Service (GHS), who read a speech on behalf of the Minister of
Health, Alban Bagbin, during a national relaunch of the female condom. The
theme of the relaunch was “Female Condom for Double Protection.”
The speech stated that the
government, in collaboration with partners, had procured a large number of
female condoms for distribution and referred to research conducted by partners
after the initial launch of the female condom in May 2000. The research
indicated that women have not been using the condom, and the study team
recommended that stakeholders, the Ministry of Health, and the Ghana Health
Service should intensify education and promotion of the female condom.
Research in other countries has
shown that the female condom was the only safe female initiated contraception
that protects women from unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases
(STDs). The speech listed the advantages of the female condom - dual
protection, easy usage, affordable, providing women the opportunity to control
sexual activities, and helping to save and enhance women’s lives - and urged
women to use female condoms and advised men to encourage their female partners
to do so.
The Greater Accra Regional Minister
Joseph Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo noted that since the original launch 12 years
ago, data show that in the Greater Accra region, only 463 women had used the
female condom in 2012. He hopes that the relaunch will help integrate use of
female condoms into Ghana’s sector-wide polices and in its HIV/AIDS
programming.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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