International Condom Day 2023: A fight to avoid 200,000 STIs and 6,000 adolescent pregnancies every day in Latin America and the Caribbean
AHF Latam and Caribbean, February 13, 2023. After the greatest impact of COVID-19 (2020-222), most Latin American countries have reported an increase in cases of Sexually Transmitted Infections, with rates that vary between 15% and up to 40% in syphilis, HIV, gonorrhea, chlamydia, among others. According to calculations by the Pan American Health Organization, every day there are 200,000 new transmissions of STIs in the American continent, all of them preventable through the correct use of condoms.
At the same time, adolescent pregnancy in Latin America keep on rising. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) announced that, in 2022, Mexico and Colombia have the highest rate of pregnancies in adolescents between 15 and 19 years of age in relation to the amount of population. In Latin America, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), 2 out of every 10 live births are children of adolescent mothers, that is, approximately 2 million births each year, almost 6 thousand per day.
International Condom Day was created in 2008 by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, to raise awareness of self-care and the correct use of condoms as the most practical and efficient way to prevent the transmission of STIs such as HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea or the virus of the human papilloma.
In this 2023, AHF celebrates the 15th anniversary of International Condom Day and invites people in Latin America and the Caribbean to join this “latex party” and share the message of self-care and self-love. Because using a condom is a fun way to take care of yourself and your partner(s).
Condom use has had a significant impact on the global response to HIV/AIDS, preventing an estimated 117 million new HIV infections since 1990, with nearly half in sub-Saharan Africa and more than a third in Asia and the Pacific. Yet millions of people around the world do not have access to condoms.
In Latin America, a third of the population, that is, more than 201 million people, live below the poverty line, which limits their access to condoms. A three-pack of condoms has an average market price of $2.5, impossible for someone living on $1.90 a day to afford. And that is aggravated by the low purchase and distribution of condoms by governments among the population.
“People need tools to prevent HIV, other STIs and unplanned pregnancies, but it seems increasingly difficult with low condom availability, barriers to importation, extra taxes and high prices,” said Terri Ford, Chief of Advocacy and Global Policy of AHF. “AHF has put condoms and STI prevention at the top of our global priorities to intensify our efforts to get condoms to people across our 45 country teams despite the many existing barriers.
This 2023 AHF continues with its promotional campaign under the slogan “With a condom that’s sexy”, to encourage people to increase their use, as a fun element in sexual relations and as a wing to give those who use it peace of mind and freedom to enjoy their sex life how and with whom they want.
See more information about AHF’s International Condom Day at www.LoveCondoms.org
For a list of AHF ICD events around the world, visit www.InternationalCondomDay.org
For more photos of INTERNATIONAL CONDOM DAY around the world https://www.flickr.com/photos/aidshealth/albums