Building a (UN) condom manufacturing plant for social marketing projects
Yonese, T.
Integration 42: 1 P
1994
ISSN/ISBN: 0916-0582 PMID: 12319132 Document Number: 263519
At the 10th International Conference on AIDS held in Yokohama, Japan, August 7-12, 1994, reports revealed that the social marketing of condoms has become popular and successful in developing countries. The nongovernmental organization distribution approach is very useful in providing condoms to new users, whose numbers have been increasing since the condom was identified as effective in preventing sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV. The rapid establishment of semi-commercial outlets even in remote areas enabled many people to obtain condoms more easily than from the government program and at a cheaper price. The social marketing concept has a clear advantage: condoms can be distributed with little government budget disbursement, and the project is based on self-reliance. Meanwhile, the additional free supply programs by many governments of developing countries are reportedly not functioning efficiently, since often large quantities of condoms, donated by agencies for family planning and STD programs, pile up in warehouses and do not reach those who need them. Moreover, the demand for condoms is limited because of the lack of effective campaigns to encourage their use. Quality condoms can be procured at lower costs if a special manufacturing plant could be built that produces condoms exclusively for the social marketing free supply program. Such a condom plant could be built in a developing country where good quality latex, the material used for condoms, is available. The unit production cost of condoms at the proposed plant would be lower compared to costs in developed countries because personnel expenses in latex-producing countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, India, and Sri Lanka, are cheaper, and the price of latex itself is lower. Mass production is possible because the demand for condoms for the social marketing projects is expected to grow even more.