Living in the United States where I am surrounded by decadent lifestyles, fast-food restaurants where I can grab a full meal in two minutes, grocery stores packed to the 20 foot roofs with an abundance of food and household items and doctors with advanced medical equipment only a few miles down the road, I get spoiled into thinking the rest of the world has it this good. That couldn’t be further from the truth. In our world today, we hear of water shortages, food shortages and healthcare shortages. One shortage that does not get as much press, however, is the condom shortage that is happening across the globe.
It is no new concept that condoms are our best line of defense against unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases; with this knowledge in hand, how could we be experiencing a shortage of these inexpensive pieces of life-saving latex? In short, third-world countries do not have the quick access to condoms that Americans have grown accustomed to. Also, in many of these countries, condoms are not promoted for their life and health-saving benefits as they are in our country; instead, condoms are often given a negative spin in the press in these countries due to ignorance of their true value.
There are several factors that combine to result in the global condom shortage. One main factor is the resistance given by many factions, whether they are political or religious. The Roman Catholic Church, for example, bans the use of condoms and instead preaches abstinence. The United States can also be called conservative in that respect, as there are many influential groups who do not want condoms to be promoted to the youth, despite the glaring statistics of teenage pregnancy and STD rates of infection in this age group.
Governments of third-world countries play a large role in this shortage. Despite having money to do so, these governments disregard condom purchases in their yearly budgets, listing it as a low priority. On the other hand, if money is allocated for condoms in the budget, the money is not always efficiently used. Some healthcare organizations who receive budget money for condom purchase often have inadequate business processes established making the purchase of condoms implausible. Since funding may not be steady from year to year, surpluses are often bought and then shelved for long periods of time, making the condoms unusable.
Another factor that has resulted in the shortage is the lack of relation between sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy. Condoms can prevent both of these, but governments usually plug only one of these issues at a time. If these two major health benefits were consistently promoted together instead of separately, the urgency and necessity of condom usage would be relayed better amongst citizens.
Finally, unlike the United States where condoms can be found at the grocery store, pharmacy or local gas station at any hour of the day, most developing countries do not operate like this. Those in rural areas find it nearly impossible to locate condoms when they are needed. Even those in urban areas do not have condoms as readily accessible as they are here in the states.
Fortunately, many developing countries are beginning to turn a new leaf and seeing the true benefits of condom use. Several have already established national condom weeks in order to promote and distribute condoms to the masses. Hopefully, many more countries will follow suit.
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13 responses so far ↓
1 laura // Dec 27, 2007 at 12:17 pm
this was a really interesting article and i would love to see some references for the facts. global condom shortage is a scary thought…and a sad reality.
2 enm // Dec 27, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Just think how many condoms could be purchased for the cost of mass circumcision campaigns being pushed and often funded by Americans, and providing false and deadly hope.
3 B. // Dec 27, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Its not just the Roman Catholic Church that promotes abstinence; the United States gave the Uganda Government $169.9 million to flight Aids in 2006, but also required that at least a third of that money went into abstinence only projects (refer news.independent.co.uk for further details). In a country where condom usage was on the up and Aids infection rates on the decline; condom usage is now declining and Aids infection rates increasing. Maybe for “many more countries to follow suit” - a change in United States foreign policy is needed!!!
4 jason borne // Dec 27, 2007 at 1:47 pm
first!
5 subcorpus // Dec 27, 2007 at 2:11 pm
we have it available in pharmacies …
and that about it …
6 Greg // Dec 27, 2007 at 2:18 pm
I think you are glossing over another huge factor in third-world countries and that is ignorance. Many men still refuse to use a condom even if it’s given to them free and they know it will help stop STD’s. Why well there are the normal list:
It’s not manly, it does not feel good, I can’t get an STD because my local witch doctor gave me a some folk medicine and oh so many others. . .
7 Chanal // Dec 28, 2007 at 10:30 pm
There is no shortage of condom supply. There is plenty of supply of good quality condom available at very affordable price.
There are many barriers to supply established by some organisations to prevent many good sources of condoms from reaching the market where it is most needed. That results in many of such market having to pay higher price for the condoms.
8 andrew // Jan 8, 2008 at 7:43 am
very interesting.
i’m adding in RSS Reader
9 dudelookslikeachimp // Feb 10, 2008 at 4:55 pm
This is a US program to control world population. That is the only answer to Global Warming and shortages of material and food. Why not kill the poor? It is not going to be fair to whoever must die - rich or poor. At least the poor have fun at the start.
10 dudelookslikeachimp // Feb 10, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Oh yeah the 3rd world nation program to kill the rich US citizens is drugs.
11 dudelookslikeachimp // Feb 10, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Also killing unbelievers is still fundamentally correct for almost all religions even if modern PC religious publicity says different. Everyone knows that the public message need not match the undercurrent dialog. It certainly helps reach those goals of world wide morality if the violators die off.
12 dudelookslikeachimp // Feb 10, 2008 at 5:08 pm
The rule of the modern world is the Bart Simpson motto: “Don’t get caught. And if you do make sure they can’t prove it in a court of law.”
13 dudelookslikeachimp // Feb 10, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Bart would disappointed in the people who don’t wear condoms.
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