Despite the global campaign for its use, less than one per cent of women in Nigeria use female condoms, according to the Programme Officer, Reproductive Health and Family Planning (Pathfinder International), Dr. Sekina Bello.
She, therefore, advocated the inclusion of men as advocates of female condoms to create more awareness for women.
According to her, the acceptability of female condoms has been very low in both the northern and southern parts of the country.
She said this on Thursday in Abuja, during a stakeholders’ meeting on the review of female condoms counselling tools organised by the Association for Reproductive and Family Health.
Bello, who is also the focal person implementing the female condom project of the RHFP, said that the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey showed that less than one per cent of women in Nigeria use female condoms.
“In Northern Nigeria, it is almost non-existent. The commodities are available, but because the healthcare providers themselves don’t know how to use it not to talk of educating others, it is just left in the stores or drawers,” she said.
While calling for the inclusion of men as advocates of female condoms, Bello hinted that the latest brand has gone through modifications, making it near natural, thin and comfortable.\
Credit: Punch
