Following reports of short supply of condoms at G B Road, an NGO which provides medical care to HIV affected individuals has donated one lakh condoms to Delhi State AIDS Control Society (DSACS) and National AIDS Control Organisation here.
"The absence of supply of condoms has resulted in anxiety and restlessness among women who over the years have learnt to gather courage to say no to clients refusing to use a condom. It is thus essential for organisations like ours to help these women and community, especially those that are at high risk of contracting and spreading HIV and STIs to be able to continue to bargain for safer sex," said Dr Nochiketa Mohanty, Country Program Manager, AIDS Health care Foundation - India Cares.
Dr D S Ratna Devi, Bureau Chief of India, AIDS Health care Foundation pointed that accessibility to condoms remains a major concern in India.
"We feel that condoms should be more accessible and the National program needs to look beyond social marketing on making condoms more accessible. While we commit a donation of one lakh condoms to the community until further replenishments from the State AIDS Control Society, we urge the Ministry of Health to take immediate action to resolve the supply chain management issues that have been plaguing the national HIV program in the past few years. It is essential to bridge the condom supply gap in an effort to make condoms more accessible," Devi said
Expressing concern overt the current situation, Delhi Commission for Women has noted that about 5000 women and hundreds of men at GB Road are at a high risk of contracting HIV and many may have already fallen prey to the virus due to a shortage in supply of condoms.
