Coronavirus may spark 'devastating' global condom shortage

KUALA LUMPUR - A global condom shortage is looming as the coronavirus pandemic shutters factories and disrupts supply chains, the world's top maker of the contraceptives said, with the United Nations warning of "devastating" consequences.

Over half of humanity has been confined to their homes as the highly contagious virus marches around the planet, while governments worldwide have ordered the closure of businesses deemed non-essential.

Malaysia -- one of the world's top rubber producers and a major source of condoms -- imposed a nationwide lockdown last month as infections surged to the highest level in Southeast Asia.

But restrictions on the operations of Malaysian contraceptive giant Karex, which makes one in every five condoms globally, mean the firm expects to produce 200 million fewer condoms than usual from mid-March to mid-April.

With other producers around the world likely facing disruption and difficulties in getting condoms to market due to transport problems, supplies of contraceptives will be hit hard, warned Karex chief executive Goh Miah Kiat.

"The world will definitely see a condom shortage," Goh told AFP.

"It's challenging, but we are trying our best right now to do whatever we can. It is definitely a major concern -- condom is an essential medical device.

"While we are fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, there are also other serious issues that we need to look at," he said, adding he was particularly worried about supplies of condoms to developing countries.

UN SOUNDS ALARM

Karex, which supplies condoms to many companies as well as governments and for distribution by aid programs, had to close its 3 Malaysian factories for a period at the start of the country's lockdown, which is due to last until April 14.

The company has since been allowed to resume operations but with only 50 percent of its usual workforce, and Goh wants permission to ramp up production.

The UN is also sounding the alarm, with its sexual and reproductive health agency warning it can currently only get about 50-60 percent of its usual condom supplies due to virus-related disruptions.

"Border closings and other restrictive measures are affecting transportation and production in a number of countries and regions," said a UN Population Fund spokesperson, adding they were taking steps such as adding extra suppliers to support urgent needs.

The agency, which works with governments worldwide to support family planning, said a key concern was being able to ship condoms to where they were needed quickly enough -- and warned the poorest and most vulnerable would be hit hardest if stocks run low.

"A shortage of condoms, or any contraceptive, could lead to an increase in unintended pregnancies, with potentially devastating health and social consequences for adolescent girls, women and their partners and families," said the spokesperson.

There could also be a rise in unsafe abortions and an increased risk of sexually transmitted infections and HIV, the agency said.

Even as factory shutdowns and border closures throw the condom industry into chaos, demand appears to be increasing.

Goh said Karex had seen growing demand as people worldwide are confined to their homes, while Indian media reported that condom sales had jumped 25-35 percent in the week after the country of 1.3 billion people announced a lockdown.

CHINA TO THE RESCUE?

Despite the warnings about a potential shortage, there are positive signs from condom makers in China, where the virus first emerged last year but which has largely managed to bring its outbreak under control.

Major producers there have resumed operations as authorities eased tough restrictions to halt the virus, which has claimed more than 80,000 victims worldwide.

HBM Protections, which makes more than one billion condoms a year, said production is back to normal levels and it is pushing ahead with earlier plans to triple its number of manufacturing lines by the end of the year.

And Shanghai Mingbang Rubber Products said it was ready to ramp up condom exports, which currently make up only about 10 percent of its output, if there is a global shortfall.

"If the international market runs into such problems... we will be willing to export more," chief executive Cai Qijie told AFP.

Agence France-Presse

100,000 condoms distributed in Mexico City ahead of Valentine's Day

MEXICO CITY - Residents in Mexico's sprawling capital were encouraged to play it safe on Valentine's Day, as 100,000 condoms were distributed across the city's metro stations on Thursday in the run up to the annual love fest.

Dozens of volunteers, some dressed as garish-colored condoms, dished out packets of rubber protection across 24 metro stations as part of a campaign to prevent venereal diseases, rising HIV infections across Mexico and unwanted pregnancies.

Celebrating 'International Condom Day' on Feb. 13, sexual safety campaigners from AIDS Health Foundation (AHF) organization launched their campaign using the "Condom use is sexy" tagline.

"Unfortunately, every year, because of shame or misinformation, people are infected with various diseases," said Miriam Ruiz, head of the AIDS Rapid Testing Area at AHF.

Only 15 percent of Mexican couples use condoms, according to AHF, and the organization wants to break the "taboo" around the use of condoms.

The campaign resonated with many residents in Mexico City, which is home to nearly 9 million people, with over 21 million in its greater metropolitan area.

"I use condoms, but the truth is that there is still a lot of machismo in Mexico and men do not want to use a condom," said 23-year-old student Manuela Zepeda.

"I tell men: if you want (sex), put it on," she added, while showing the female condom that she had just been given.

Daily HIV infections increased to 44 from 33 per day between 2017 and 2018, according to Mexico's National Centre for the Prevention and Control of HIV and AIDS (Censida).

Lourdes Zamuro, a 63-year-old woman, took two strips.

"These condoms are for my grandchildren," she said in front of her smiling husband, Adrian Carrera, 65.

"Things were different before. We can't stop them having sex. Better to inform them and help them." 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Free at Rio Olympics: 9 million forest-friendly condoms

XAPURI, Brazil - Brazil's government will hand out 9 million condoms for free around Rio de Janeiro during the Olympics in August, a push meant to encourage safe sex and also defend the Amazon rainforest.

Rio's local Olympic organizing committee said about 450,000 of the sustainably-produced condoms will be destined for athletes and staff housed in the Olympic Village.

The rest will be made widely available to the many visitors who will be arriving in the city in just a few weeks, the Health Ministry said.

All the condoms to be distributed are produced by Natex, a factory in the western Amazonian state of Acre, deep in the rainforest near Brazil's border with Bolivia.

The factory, run by the Acre state government, uses latex gathered from Amazon rubber trees by tappers who are employed by a government-run program designed to protect their traditional livelihood, foster sustainable use of the rainforest and deter illegal loggers.

The tappers see themselves as guardians of the rainforest.

On a recent outing, Raimundo Mendes de Barros, a 71-year-old lifelong rubber tapper with a stark white beard, gathered the milky-white latex dripping into metal buckets hooked at the base of countless trees. Above, the tropical sun was filtered by the Amazon canopy.

Barros spoke with pride about the fierce fight he and other sustainable rubber tappers wage to maintain their craft.

"Our condom factory, aside from guaranteeing a fair price for the rubber, employs hundreds," he said. "It gives the world a product - the condom - that will be very present there in Rio, to fight disease and help with birth control."

For decades, tappers like Barros have been on the front line of pushing Brazilian leaders to do more to halt deforestation, which is mostly caused by the illegal clearing of forest for ranching, soy farms and timber extraction.

The fight has sometimes come at a heavy cost as farmers and loggers have sometimes retaliated with hired guns. Scores of people have been killed over the years trying to protect the forest, most notably the internationally known environmentalist and rubber tapper Chico Mendes.

His 1988 murder in Xapuri, where the condom factory now stands, helped galvanize the government to take serious measures to battle deforestation and the violence against Amazon defenders.

For several years Brazil's Health Ministry has distributed millions of condoms from the factory for free at big events around Brazil - most notably the annual bacchanal of Carnival.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com