Female condoms and foreign aid

From the Lancet Global Health Network:

Female condoms and foreign aid
Few people would disagree that there is a huge need for interventions that allow women to initiate protection against HIV infection. But while the research community is not having much luck in the development of a microbicide is another, already existing intervention-the female condom-being overlooked? Yes, according to the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE). In a report just released, CHANGE argues that the female condom is an effective tool for HIV prevention that is getting little attention from international donors and governments, who are instead ploughing millions of dollars into microbicide and vaccine development. Ineffective programming and lack of political will continue to deny women access to female condoms, say the report authors.

Now, I *know* I just read another report that talked about the success of getting female condoms to work in Thailand among female sex workers. The women were able to get customers to use them by touting them as sex toys, even talking about how much better it made sex for them. Clever!! The result was more sex workers using female condoms and even some clients requesting to use them when visiting a sex worker.

You always run into the argument about unequal power relationships and condom use. I thought the study on female sex workers and getting clients to use them was a refreshing change. I'll have to dig that up, but probably won't until finals are over!