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| Features |
| Dispensers for condoms |
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by
Staff Reporters, 23 April 2006
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08:07:07
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HIV/AIDS is real. Statistics show that the pandemic continues to decimate the population at an alarming rate.
Stakeholders actively involved in the fight against the pandemic do not quite agree on the best approach or methods to either avoiding contracting or reducing the further spread of AIDS.
Faith groups advocate total abstinence from sex for people who are not married while providers of social services argue this is difficult and thus encourage people to use condoms whenever they indulge in sexual intercourse.
Condoms are readily available on the market. The problem, however, is how to access them since they are sold from open counters of supermarkets, grocery shops, pharmacies, bars and small retail outlets such as those of hawkers who trade in the open.
Most married adults find it extremely hard to buy condoms from shop counters that are manned by females. “First and foremost, you worry about what the saleslady at the counter will think of you when asking her to drop a couple of condom packets into your shopping bag. That am I the most sexy and promiscuous of men and don’t I have sense of shame?” says a corporate executive. He could not even give his name for fear of the same stigma – that people who know him will think he is silly to talk about this subject in the media.
“In a big shop it is foully to assume that no one will notice as you pick condoms from a shelf or at the counter. Imagine all those women and men behind you on a queue watching as you pocket the sheaths. It is embarrassing and degrading,” he adds.
Obbie Phiri (not real name) observes that the problem is there even at a hawker’s outlet. “In Nkolokosa and Chilobwe townships I have on several occasions failed to buy condoms even under cover of darkness. I have gone to a hawker only to bypass it because there are too many women buying cooking oil,” he says.
“I move around till the seller is alone – and it must be a man. But it happens that just before I ask for the packet, a woman is standing beside me and often it is someone known to me. I end up buying bread or sugar,” he narrates past experiences.
“The problem is people cannot believe I am buying them for use in my bedroom. People always associate condoms with promiscuity. We need to change this mindset and accept that condoms are also meant for husband and wife to protect themselves from diseases and avoid pregnancies,” Phiri offers.
While stigma prevents many from freely buying condoms, social services providers in the country claim sales of over 40 million of these protective sheaths. This raises the question: who buys all these and from which outlets?
Many believe the largest users of condoms are sex workers and single women who have no one to account to for being found with the sheaths, unlike married women.
From observation in drinking places, it has been established that even drunkards do not feel free to openly ask for condoms in bars.
But there are some souls who are daring and not caring or ashamed. They pluck them like juicy mangoes in season.
Follow Rozina (not real name). It is just before 18.00 hours when she arrives at a self-service shop in Limbe. As a man locks the door of his car, Rozina passes by whispering the greeting: “Hi! Hi!”.
This is obviously directed at the car owner: the best catch for any sex worker in search of a good time.
Rozina gets into the shop before the man, wriggling her behind seductively and effectively. No man with blood can resist taking in the picture.
She looks 16 and is wearing a tight-fitting pair of jeans trousers with a top that does not cover her navel and a big belt at the waist. A slight bend of her body clearly exposes the g-string inside for men to relish.
She takes a bit of time looking at items on shelves knowing she is attracting attention. Boldly she moves to the counter and says loud enough: “Manyuchi”.
From the exchange of greetings at the counter with the saleslady, it becomes obvious Rozina is a regular customer. She goes through this routine almost each evening before she hits the streets of Limbe to pounce on her night’s catch.
As she saunters out, the sales staff including their shop manager or supervisor burst into laughter almost oblivious of the presence of other customers. Rozina is happy for the night but customers still in the shop dare not ask for the same product for fear, they too, would be laughed at when they exit the shop!
The trauma that goes with buying a condom would be a thing of the past when government implements recommendations of the National Condom Strategic paper. In this paper it is proposed to have non-human condom dispensers placed in convenient and strategic places for people to access without feeling embarrassed.
Jonathan Nkhoma, health communication and information manager says when the programme is about to roll off, government would engage people to run and manage these dispensers just like soft drink firms let out dispensers of minerals to business persons.
Till the dispensers arrive solutions to avoiding AIDS lie in abstinence from sex, being faithful to one’s partner (where a couple is not yet infected) or use of condoms and courage to buy these from supermarkets.
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