Condom message misinterpreted

November 16, 2009 at 7:33 pm · Filed under Regional, South Africa and tagged: condoms, education, pregnancy, VCT

The number of women presenting with unplanned pregnancies who have switched from pills or injections to condoms in response to messages promoting condoms for HIV prevention is very worrying, Dr Margaret Moss, who heads the Contraceptive and Sexual Health Services at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, writes in the October edition of Continuing Medical Education. “Some HIV-infected women said lay counsellors actively discouraged use of other contraceptives,” she says.
“Whether this is the true counselling message, or merely the client’s interpretation, is open to question. Whatever the case, it is an extremely worrying situation.” Advice should be to use “highly effective contraception, of the client’s choice, to prevent pregnancy, in addition to correct and consistent use of male or female condoms to protect against STI/HIV infection or reinfection,” she says.

Story ideas:
See if you can find out whether this counselling – or misinterpretation – problem in Cape Town exists in your area too. You could get accurate facts from medical authorities, making sure they are in language easy understood by the layperson, and use them in a sidebar to a story about HIV.

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