M’mbelwa District Council has urged non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the area to promote the use of female condoms regardless of low uptake of the product.

The district’s Principal Nutrition and HIV and AIDS Officer, Frank Mfune, who made this call while addressing the district’s Aids Coordinating Committee, expressed concern that some NGOs working in the health sector do not mainstream the promotion of female condoms in their activities.

He noted that most NGOs only promote the use of male condoms.

Mfune said, ‘We know the uptake of female condoms in our district is very low, but we have to promote their use.

‘Even if we can have five women accessing and using the condoms, it will be a plus as this will be a stepping stone towards empowering women in sexual and reproductive health rights’.

Also speaking, Condom Coordinator at Mzimba District Hospital, Billy Gondwe, said his office had developed reporting-and-recording forms for female condoms which would be made available to all health centres across the district.

‘the district health office has already trained in-charges of all health facilities on how to fill the reporting forms to ensure collection of quality and reliable data which can be used for decision making and developing strategies in promoting the use of female condoms’, he said.

‘We had a challenge to generate and store data on female condom uptake as a district because we did not have reporting and recording forms, hence the initiative’.

Source: Nyasa Times

Photo source: Inga