Condom stock for first quarter insufficient—Dr Ayisi Addo

The “public sector" has less than one month stock of condoms as of March, Dr Stephen Ayisi Addo, Programme Manager, National AIDS/Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) Control, has said.

This is because Government has not purchased for the first quarter of 2022.

“As at last month, we had less than one month of stock of condoms in the public sector but what we have in the country are ones that have not been tested for public use.”

“It is more than a million and we need to test them to ensure that they are appropriate before we send to the public,” he said.

Mr Ayisi Addo said there were low stocks in the last two years though the need and requests for contraceptives and other STI preventive products, including condoms during COVID-19, were high, leading to shortages.

He said this at an event to launch contraceptives and condoms to augment the national stock by the Society for Family Health International Ghana, a leading organisation in HIV prevention, health policy, reproductive and maternal health.

He said out of a total of 30 million pieces of condoms needed for Ghana's sexually active population yearly, the State had a deficit of 15 million; where three condoms are to one person.

“Based on the demography and health survey, people who had sex in the last 12 months and the number of times they had sex, and if you add them to those who have sex as a trade and those who also have sex as a normal frequent behaviour, then on the least we are aiming about 30 million condoms,” the Programme Manager said.

He attributed the low stock to delay in shipment and procurement on the part of the State, donor partners such as UNFPA not donating at full capacity and Global Fund cutting supply.

Dr Ayisi Addo, however, commended the private sector for supporting what Government had in stock, like what SFH had done.

Dr Omokhudo Idogho, Managing Director, Society for Family Health International, said the Organisation's philosophy was to give the very best to communities.

"It's all about community engagement and promoting health policy to ensure that West Africa or Africa attains universal health coverage by 2030," he said.

Some of the new products launched were varieties of flex and gold circle condoms, lubricants and contraceptive pills.

Dr Chris Opoku Fofie, Manager, Safe Motherhood Programme of the Ghana Health Service, called for promotion of contraceptive use.

GNA