Posted by By Agha Ibiam on
Against the backdrop that the use of condom does not give 100 per cent protection from contacting HIV/AIDS during sexual intercourse, an expert in public health has posited that the use of condom still remains the most tested and effective method of preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
Against the backdrop that the use of condom does not give 100 per cent protection from contacting HIV/AIDS during sexual intercourse, an expert in public health has posited that the use of condom still remains the most tested and effective method of preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
At a workshop organised for journalists on reporting on HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa by the International Institute for Journalism (IIJ) of InWent in Arusha, Tanzania, Dr. (Mrs.) Regina Gorgen, an advisor in HIV/AIDS and sexual reproductive health, faulted assumption that the use of condom does not guarantee safe sex.
She said recent international research indicates that male condom breakage ranges from zero to 12 per cent, with many of the US-based studies falling in the two to five per cent range.
According to her, the per centage of condom that slip off the penis during or after intercourse is in a similar range. Quoting a Family Health International (FHI) study, Gogen noted that most condom users rarely experience condom breakage and slippage. She said a small group of users is often responsible for a majority of the breaks and slips. "In the study, 177 couples used 1,947 condoms and reported a combined breakage/slippage rate of 8.7 per cent. If every couple were likely to experience condom breakage, then each couple would have been expected to have about 1 out 11 condoms either break or slip off.
"In this study, 16 couples which was less than 10 per cent of participants were responsible for 50 per cent of all the breakage/slippage. Well over half the couples did not experience any condom breakage/slippage among 11 condoms each couple used", she said.
She pointed out several reasons for condom failure, which include, opening the package with sharp objects or teeth, incorrect methods of putting on the condom (pulling it on like a socks), use of oil-based lubricant, lengthy and vigorous intercourse, using condoms for non-vaginal intercourse, not holding rim of condom during withdrawal and re-use of condoms.
Equally of importance she mentioned was that not all breakage/slippage exposes the condom user to the same risks as researchers have begun to distinguish between clinical and non-clinical breakage.