Northern Cape short 1.5m condoms This is a massive service delivery failure. This alone is enough to defeat the progress made in the fight against HIV and Aids
THE NORTHERN Cape is facing a shortage of more than 1.5 million condoms.
According to the DA this is threatening to undo the gains made in the fight against HIV and Aids.
“Earlier this year, it was stated in the Third Quarter Report for 2017/18 that the department owed just under R1 million to Barrs Medicals and that the delays in the processing of condom suppliers had resulted in non-delivery of ordered condoms,” Isak Fritz, DA spokesperson for Health, said yesterday.
He added that this had led to poor condom distribution across the Province.
“The supply issue particularly affected the Frances Baard and John Taolo Gaetsewe districts over the festive season and beyond.
“Fritz stated that the department underachieved on the number of male condoms distributed by the end of the third quarter of 2017/18, by 1.643 million.
“This is a massive service delivery failure. This alone is enough to defeat the progress made in the fight against HIV and Aids.”
According to the DA, payment issues were not the only challenge affecting the supply and distribution of condoms in the Northern Cape.
“In the past, it has been well documented that this department failed to secure safe and adequate storage of condoms throughout the districts, in turn compromising on the quality of condoms.
“It also failed to provide dedicated transport to deliver condoms from storage sites to facilities for distribution. It remains unclear as to whether these issues, particularly the transport challenges, have been resolved.
“Given that the Northern Cape has been experiencing declining numbers of patients remaining on antiretroviral treatment due to poor implementation of retention and adherence strategies, which is also compounded by poor data management, it can ill afford to turn a blind eye to something as critical and simple as condom distribution to fight HIV and Aids.”
The party has indicated that it will submit parliamentary questions to Health MEC Fufe Makatong to establish whether outstanding payments to condom suppliers have been made; the extent of condom shortages in the Province; as well as what interventions have been implemented to rectify storage and transportation challenges.
The Northern Cape Department of Health spokesperson, Lulu Mxekezo, indicated that she would respond to media enquiries as soon as she was able to. However, no response has been received.
In the department’s budget for 2018/19, it was stated that the estimated annual target for the distribution of male condoms in the Province was 154 million.
According to Statistics SA, there has been a decrease in the use of condoms among adults aged 15 years and older in South Africa as a whole since 2005.
“Risky sexual behaviour is one of the factors that fuels HIV infections. In the fight against HIV infection, protected sex through the use of condoms is promoted in advocacy campaigns and programmes.
“The results from the 2009 Communication Survey in South Africa indicates that condom use is lowest in stable (married or living together) relationships and highest by people with less stable relationships. Only 15% of married men and women reported use of condoms at last sex as compared to 74-83 % of men and 56-66 % of women with other partners (casual, friends and one-night encounters).
“The results further indicated that condom use increased with exposure to more communication programmes. For instance, of those not exposed to communication programmes only 33% used condoms, while 50% of those who were exposed to all 11 programmes used condoms.”