One CONDOM Please...

Jamaica must be one of the few places in the modern-progressive world with such high social stigma that hinder the realisation of a HIV prevention revolution.

There is no doubt, that we have made significant strides as a country, in educating the population about sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV. We are on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 6 – to halt and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015. We are becoming more accepting and appreciative of persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV). So progressive is our country, that the Ministry of Health and civil society partners has several HIV intervention and outreach programmes that target sex workers and men who have sex with men (MSM)—two populations that are criminalised. There are even interventions for persons with visual and hearing impairment.

However, despite these progresses, there are still several barriers to ensuring that persons, particularly adolescent and youth are able to safeguard and protect their sexual and reproductive health. In the last three weeks one of the main concerns that have been featured in a number of meetings (I have attended) with outreach workers, government representatives, activists and different sectors of the population is CONDOM ACCESSIBILITY.

Condoms are important in preventing the spread of HIV. This is evident in the number of advertisements on local television that promotes the use of condoms and how to use them correctly. They also help to prevent pregnancy. So important are they that we now have several flavours; and to accommodate our “kinkiness” they can even glow in the dark. Nonetheless, a number of persons undergo a significant level of discomfort when purchasing condoms.

In Jamaica, condoms are displayed behind the cashier in a store or pharmacy. Everyone must see and hear that you asked the cashier to hand you a pack of condoms. Now this wouldn’t be so bad if sex didn’t raise so many eyebrows, especially when it comes to young people. To make this worse, you pray that the cashier hears and does not announce which brand and what flavour you want when you whisper your request.

Can someone explain to me, why this is considered the most appropriate way to sell condoms in a society where sex is still a taboo? Do we even consider the problems MSM, especially the “effeminate” ones face when they purchase condoms? And worst if they add lubricant to the shopping list? What about sex workers who already face such high social stigma when they have to buy condoms?

No one wants to be the pharmacy or community gossip. I know of several persons who say they would never purchase a condom in Jamaica. Some of them travel and make use of the openness abroad to stack up their supplies. God forbids if the supply goes short before the next trip.

Certainly there must be a better way to make condoms accessible! We could make begin by installing more condom machines in the appropriate and needed areas. We must revisit the policy (or perhaps it is just a wholesale idea) on how condoms are sold in stores and pharmacies. Additionally, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) who traditionally are more open and accepting than the wider society, can sell condoms and lubricants. I am sure their meagre budgets could do with the profit from the sale of condoms.

This blog was written for Advocate for Youth's Amplify. The original post can be found here