FDA Approves
FC2 Female Condom®
On March 11th, the Female Health Company (FHC) announced approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the 2nd-generation female condom, known as the FC2. FDA approval will enable the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to procure FC2 for distribution to global HIV/AIDS programs. The FDA’s approval states that the FC2 Female Condom is indicated for preventing pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Press Release from CHANGE
Press Release from Female Health Company
Reuters: “U.S. FDA approves new, cheaper female condom,” by Susan Heavey
RHRealityCheck.org: “Female and Male Condoms: Whose Responsibility?” by Kimberly Whipkey
Slate.com: "Female Condoms," by Will Saletan
Saving Lives Now:
Female Condoms and the Role of U.S. Foreign Aid
 A new report from the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE)
documents U.S. investment in global female condom procurement,
distribution and programming.
AIDS and gender equality:
a time for new paradigms
Michel Sidibe gave a speech on March 2, 2009 at the opening of the Fifty-third Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
"I am calling for the “democratization of problem-solving.” Inclusive governance must be constructed from below. And it must pervade all aspects of life. I am talking about placing prevention more firmly in the hands of women. We need wider distribution and use of female condoms."
About Female Condoms
The female condom is a currently existing and approved safer sex
technology that can be used to prevent HIV infection and/or unintended
pregnancy. Correct and consistent use of female condoms can reduce the
risk of HIV infection by more than 90 percent in women having sex with
an infected partner. Studies show that the female condom is at least as
effective as the male condom in reducing the risk of contracting other
sexually transmitted infections. Female condoms also can be used to
prevent unintended pregnancies, making them an ideal “dual protection”
method.
More..
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Female Condom Advocacy in Uganda
From June 23-25, 2009 CHANGE, in partnership with the Global Campaign for Microbicides, facilitated an advocacy workshop in Kampala, Uganda among civil society advocates aimed at expanding access to female condoms in the country. Participants practiced key advocacy skills and put them into practice, meeting with donors, including USAID and UNFPA and the Ministry of Health to ensure civil society involvement in the planned re-launch of the female condom this fall.
Global Forum on Female Condoms
The Information and Knowledge for Optimal Health (INFO) Project, Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), and Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE) with support from partners of the Implementing Best Practices (IBP) Initiative and the World Health Organization Department of Reproductive Health and Research (WHO/RHR) organized a two-week online global forum on female condoms from April 23–May 2, 2008, presenting the latest guidance, reviewing new products, and allowing colleagues around the world share questions and experiences around female condom programming. Nearly 500 participants from 72 countries joined the discussion.
Read the summary of the e-forum discussion.
" Yes, a female condom," Chicago Tribune, January 24, 2009.
" Female condom's worldwide possibilities," by Serra Sippel, chicagotribune.com, January 26, 2009.
Latest News on Female Condoms
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