There's a deficit of 15 million condomns in Ghana, National AIDS Programme Manager
About 30 million condoms needed, AIDS Programmes Manager
Programme Manager at the National AIDS, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) Control, Dr Stephen Ayisi Addo, has averred that Ghana's condom stock for the public sector is inadequate.
The shortage, he said, was due to government's inability to purchase more condoms for the first quarter of this year.
He however noted that the condoms in stock have not been tested and approved for public perusal.
“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 told Ghana News Agency in an interview.
Dr Stephen Ayisi Addo noted that government is supposed to buy 30 million pieces of condoms to prevent condom shortage.
However, with the current situation, there is a deficit of 15 million condomns, hence, three condoms 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.
Dr Ayisi Addo attributed the low stock to government's delay in shipment and procurement of condoms.
He added that donor partners such as United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) were not donating at full capacity.
