Health advocates tout new model of female condom

[steven johnson]

Empowering women to protect themselves from STDs is critical.

- Advocates of the female condom are promoting a less costly, more user-friendly version that they hope will vastly expand its role in the global fight against AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. An early version of the female condom was introduced in 1993, and it remains the only available woman-initiated form of protection against both STDs and unintended pregnancy.
Yet despite global promotion by the United Nations and other organizations, its usage is still minuscule, even as women bear an ever-growing share of the AIDS epidemic.
Advocates hope the dynamics will change following last month's approval by the Food and Drug Administration of the FC2, a new version of the female condom produced by the Chicago-based Female Health Co.
About 35 million female condoms were distributed worldwide last year, but that compares to more than 10 billion male condoms, which are far cheaper and, at least initially, easier to use. However, in some nations with high HIV rates, many men refuse to wear condoms, putting women at risk.
Though it looks similar to its predecessor _ a soft, transparent sheath with flexible inner and outer rings _ the FC2 is made from synthetic rubber rather than polyurethane, making it cheaper to produce.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/16/AR2009041602950.html?hpid=sec-health

[YOY]

1. Empowering and all but something tells me that putting on/taking off the male one is easier.

n/t

[Warpy]

2. Of course it is, but you know how they whine about it.

This one would be even better if it were undetectable. Even if we go through the trouble beforehand and deal with the mess after, they're still going to complain about the lack of sensation.

[TechBear_Seattle]

3. And I've never understood those complaints

Good sex is a LOT more than just 1) Insert tab A into slot B; 2) Repeat vigorously. I am constantly amazed at just how clueless heterosexuals can be about sex.

[ConcernedCanuk]

4. Something is wrong here - why do humans need a barrier between their sex organs?

.
.
.

millions of other species seem to prevail without it . .

What are we doing wrong?

[rocktivity]

5. What we're doing "wrong" is not wanting to sex to result in pregnancy all the time

And physical barriers that seem to work better than chemical ones.

:headbang:
rocktivity

[supernova]

6. Or easily preventable spread of life-threatening diseases

condoms aren't just about preventing pregnancy, they are about preventing the spread of Aids.

Plenty of women around the world get infected from male partners who are too prissy to put on a condom.