Washington, DC is the first city to give out free female condoms. It's also the city whose population has the highest HIV rate in the country. A study conducted in 2008 showed that 15,100 adults were infected with HIV in DC.
“The project is funded through a $500,000 grant from the MAC AIDS Fund, a subsidiary of MAC Cosmetics, which contributes to numerous city programs, including two of the city's needle exchange programs. The grant helped the city buy the condoms at wholesale prices from the Female Health Co. and provide them for distribution by social service organizations, including Planned Parenthood, the Community Education Group and the Women's Collective.”
(via Bossip and The Washignton Post)
Female condoms can also be found at beauty salons, convenience stores, and at high schools located in DC areas with high HIV rates. So the next time you buy hair products, don’t forget to grab a free condom on your way out.
Teenagers are not the only ones being targeted. Tweens are also being encouraged to use condoms. A condom manufacturer in Switzerland called Lamprecht AG is creating extra-small condoms for 12 year-old boys. The condoms are called “Hotshot” and the slogan, “it fits when passion hits”—is catchy. Hotshots are smaller in diameter, not in length. The average condom has a diameter of 2 inches, while the Hotshot has 1.7 inches in diameter and 7.4 inches in length. The company decided to create smaller condoms after a study showed that young teens or tweens were regularly engaging in unprotected sex.
To some, condoms made for kids in middle school may appear unseemly, but I think creating something that can reduce the risk of getting HIV is far more important.
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