By Yamikani Yapuwa

Thyolo, June 20, Mana: Thyolo District has registered a rise in condom and lubricants usage thanks to the Last Mile Programme implemented by Banja La Mtsogolo (BLM) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health aimed at increasing accessibility of condoms and lubricants to people in the district.

Speaking during a District Condom Coordinating Committee meeting, BLM Thyolo District Condom Programming Leader, Clara Dias said the programme which was implemented in 15 Traditional Authorities (TAs) in the district has seen an increase in usage of condoms.

She disclosed that approximately 2.8 million male condoms, 5,952 female condoms and 9,800 lubricants were distributed from January to May 2024.

“We operated in 350 hotspots where we placed the condoms in bars, shabeens and distributed to various youth clubs and community based organizations in the district,” Dias said.

“We used sporting activities like football bonanzas to sensitize communities which resulted into high uptake of the condoms,” she said, adding: “We are happy to see that even Traditional Authority leaders were willing to map and register hotspots where people could get access to the condoms.”

Dias pointed out that many women are still hesitant to use female condoms, attributing the trend to knowledge gap.

“We feel that there is need to orient people on the use of female condoms as well as sensitisation and mindset change if we are to see more adoption of female condoms in the district,” she said.

Thyolo District Condom Coordinator, Samuel Kalema said the rise in condom use was an indication that people are aware of the importance of the condoms in preventing sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies in the district.

On the low absorption of the female condoms, he said there was need to step up sensitisation and mindset change efforts.

“There is lack of promotion of the female condoms among men, studies have shown that where female condoms are promoted among men there is a high adoption rate.

“It is, therefore, important to deliberately promote female condoms among men if we are to see a high rate of adoption,” Kalema said.

During the meeting, various sectors presented their condom programming activities for the first quarter of 2024