Market women & ‘Kayayee’ educated on female condom
The Society of Women against AIDS (SWAA) has taken its campaign for promoting the use of female condom to the Agbobloshie and the Kokomba markets.
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The sensitisation programme formed part of a year-long campaign by the SWAA to promote the use of female condom in the country.
The campaign, which is in collaboration with the Ghana AIDS Commission and the Ghana Health Service (GHS), is aimed at reducing sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), especially HIV and AIDS, and unwanted pregnancies.
Female porters, popularly referred to as ‘Kayayee’ and market women, were sensitised to the use of the female condoms after which they were given some of the condoms to protect themselves during sex.
A complement
In an interview, the Public Relations Officer for SWAA, Madam Gloria Dei Tutu, told the Daily Graphic that education on the female condom was not intensive when it was introduced in 2000. The organisation and its partners, therefore, have renewed their commitment to promote the use of female condoms through intensive education programmes throughout the country.
The female condom is a potential safe and effective contraceptive method that provides protection against unwanted pregnancies and STDs, Madam Tutu said, adding that women should see it as a complement to the male condom.
About 6,000 of the condoms were distributed to the women and few men at the Agbobloshie and Kokomba markets.
To ensure easy access to the female condom for women, Madam Tutu said outlets would be created in the various markets to sell them. She, therefore, encouraged women to patronise the female condom to ensure their safety.
Commendation
The President of the Kayayee Association of Ghana, Mr Mohammed I. Salifu, commended SWAA and its partners for educating the women on the use of the female condoms. That, he said, was very important because men took advantage of the women who slept on the street and had raped them without protecting themselves from STDs.
He said the women had the option to use the female condom if the men refused to use the male condom before having sex with them.
The initiative, Mr Salifu said, would help reduce unplanned pregnancies among the young girls and women who had come to the city in search of greener pastures.