CAPE TOWN, South Africa, ICASA 2013 — “There is too much of a stigma around condoms. Young people need to protect themselves against HIV and Aids.” With these words, Bidia Deperthes, UNFPA’s senior technical adviser on HIV and director of the Condomize campaign, opened a lively community debate with young people.
The vibrant Condomize campaign session stole the show at this year's ICASA.
Ms. Deperthes said the stigma around condoms needed to change, and called for young people to be given the opportunity to ask questions about and have access to condoms.
Of the 6,300 people newly infected with HIV globally each day, almost 40 per cent are youngpeople aged 15-24 years and the majority of them young women. Between 2005 and 2012, HIV-related deaths among adolescents increased by 50 per cent, while the global number of AIDS-related deaths fell by 30 per cent.
Speaking at the campaign session, Zigisani Nkanjeni told the gathering that religious leaders and culture still played a big role in condom usage on the continent. “In Africa, the use of condoms is frowned upon on and people do not get the support they need.”
Lungi Kweyame, who works with university students, said she encourages young people to ask for more information on condom use and it was “all about making informed decisions. As women, it is not only our responsibility to know about how to use condoms but also your partner should know this. It is about taking care of yourself,” she said.
A young woman who tested HIV positive said that her boyfriend refused to use condoms, and that’s how she ended up being infected. She was now working hard to educate other young people on the use of condoms and on how important this is in the fight against HIV & Aids.
UNFPA has been a driving force in the campaign for condom use and is striving towards universal access to condoms.
Ms. Deperthes and her team have criss-crossed the globe and were working hard to ensure that the Condomize campaign will be heard of and seen by millions. She asked young people how they access condoms in their respective countries. South Africans were lucky, as they pointed out they can get them at public toilets or shebeens (local bars), while other Africans from Senegal and Togo said they were not as fortunate.
“Governments have to learn to put their money behind condoms,” she said. There is still too much donor dependency. Outside South Africa and Namibia, the rest of the world wants USAID or other donors to pay for condoms.” She said she wants to see donors making condoms a priority and wants to see more done on prevention campaigns.
~ Adebayo Fayoyin, UNFPA East and Southern Africa Regional Office
