Condom shortage hits Central region
Peer educators compete in inflating condoms during a 'condom Olympics' presided over by self declared 'Africa King of Condoms', Stanley Ngara, during the World Aids Day commemoration at Kenyatta University in Nairobi on December 01, 2021.
Last month's reported condom theft at the Kenya Medical Supply Authority (Kemsa) has now spilled to the entertainment sector, hitting it hard with acute shortage.
The Global Fund, a Switzerland-based organization that funds governments to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria reported that 1.1 million condoms, 908,000 mosquito nets, and tuberculosis drugs worth Sh10 million have since gone missing from Kemsa stock.
The organization reported it suspected the supplies were stolen and resold to privately owned pharmaceutical retailers. So bad is the situation that some users have resorted to using polythene bags in place of condoms for protection.
Central Region Sex Workers Union Chair, Mary Wanjiru told Nation.Africa that efforts to reach public health extension workers to replenish the stock have not been successful for the past one month. She revealed that the government free condoms are now being sold at Sh5 per piece owing to the shortage.
"The government through its health workers has been supplying condoms to bars and lodgings for free. But for the past four weeks we have not received the stock and where available, we are being told to pay Sh500 for a carton of 100 pieces. Our clients are being forced to use nylon papers instead," she said.
Ms Wanjiru said men find it hard to buy the condoms from retailers "since they are costly and again, they are used to finding us stocking for them the free ones."
She said economic times are hard for many low income earners who constitute the big client base for sex trade.
"Telling a man who only has Sh500 to set aside a budget for condoms is a depressant and it is logical they expect us to stock condoms for them," she said.
Faith Ndung'u who is Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF-Kenya) Programmes development and advocacy manager says the government must come up with mechanism of stemming the acute shortage of condoms.
She said the government should come up with modalities of taming corruption at Kemsa as well as bringing down the high taxes currently prevailing against those willing to step in and help the country restock.
"There are many partners who would voluntarily step in and help the government gap the deficit. Unfortunately, the aggregate tax regime slapped on condom procurements are Shilling for shilling. The government should come up with friendly corroborative policies," Ms Ndung'u said.
"Africa Condom king" Stanley Ngara attributed the scarcity to erratic policies that tax latex importation in a harsh way.
Mr Ngara has made it his mission to distribute free condoms to the public.
"We know the government is financing a litany of programmes related to reproductive health. It needs partners from the public sector to help it achieve it's goals. But the taxation burden is unfriendly hence the scarcity" he said.
Mr Ngara lamented that the electioneering season currently peaking has not made the condom a national subject.
"We want to hear these politicians talk of condoms, ARVs, teen pregnancies, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)...we want to hear these politicians publicly declaring that the condom is related to the future of our youths, families, country
National Assembly Committee on Health Chairperson Sabina Chege said the structures of addressing teen pregnancies, safe reproductive choices among the adults as well as all attached remedial health services have been classified as a national governance culture.
"Both at the local and national level, we have been pulling together to ensure all the concerns have been addressed in a timely and efficient manner. I can assure you that the taxation and condom deficit concerns are being addressed at very high levels and soon it shall be revealed that indeed something is being done about it," she said.
