Chinese condoms are ‘too small’ for Zimbabwean men, a Zimbabwean health minister has said.
This big issue was raised by David Parirenyatwa, Zimbabwe’s health minister in the wake of an HIV/Aids prevention event last week.
Popular condom brands used by African youths are imported from China, but men often complain about the products being too small.
Holly and Phil spoke to someone about how they contracted HIV:
[ooyala player_id=”5df2ff5a35d24237905833bd032cd5d8″ width=”undefined” height=”undefined” pcode=”twa2oyOnjiGwU8-cvdRQbrVTiR2l” code=”t2bDFsZTE6Ux1SBNugCZgWDzZLAF5XHb”]
Health minister Parirenyatwa said:
The southern African region has the highest incidence of HIV and we are promoting the use of condoms.
Youths now have a particular condom that they like, but we don’t manufacture them. We import condoms from China and some men complain they are too small.
In response to the African health minister’s comments, Zhao Chuan, the chief executive of the manufacturer Beijing Daxiang and His Friends Technology Co, has vowed to make them bigger.
Chuan told the South China Morning Post:
As to the different demands from customers such as in Zimbabwe, Daxiang, as a Chinese manufacturer, has the ability and the obligation to make a contribution, so we have started to do some surveys on users’ data in the region to make preparations for future products with different sizes.
Zimbabwe is one of the countries is sub-Saharan Africa worst affected by HIV and Aids, with an estimates 13.5 per cent of its adult population infected with the virus.
Condoms are a key way to stop the spread of the infection, so it has become one of the top five condom importers in the world.
China is one of the largest producers of the contraceptive, with about 300 condom manufacturers which produce about 3 billion condoms a year.
If you want to find out more about contraception and HIV and support the cause, The Egmont Trust supports inspirational grassroots organisations that alleviate the devastating impact of HIV and Aids on vulnerable children and their families in sub-Saharan Africa.
