Paying for Condoms and Contraceptives

While 47 countries have procured male condoms using money from the Global Fund, the bulk of the procurement has been made by only a small number of countries. In fact, Tanzania (28 percent), Namibia (25 percent) and DR Congo (9 percent) are together responsible for 62 percent of the total. Two countries—Namibia (64 percent) and Djibouti (27 percent)—are responsible for over 90 percent of female condoms purchased with Global Fund money.³⁵⁶

Starting in the Round 8 request for proposals, GFATM has stated more explicitly that countries can include sexual and reproductive health as part of their proposals on AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, as long as a justification is provided on the impact of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRH) on reducing one of the three diseases. As such, countries can use GFATM money to procure contraceptives other than condoms. Advocacy efforts are underway by a coalition of organizations, including Friends of the Global Fund/Africa, Global AIDS Alliance, Interact Worldwide, International AIDS Alliance, International Planned Parenthood Federation/Africa Regional Office and Population Action International, to work with countries to incorporate SRH into their HIV and AIDS proposals. The World Bank seeks to make contraceptive commodities, including male and female condoms, more available and affordable through loans and grants, as depicted in Table 3. For countries with adequate capacity, the World Bank encourages countries to use Bank loan funds to procure condoms directly from manufacturers, whereas UNFPA does the procurement for countries with less capacity.³⁵⁷ Because World Bank support consists mainly of loans as well as some grants, these contributions are reported apart from overall donor support as reported by UNFPA.

Table 3: World Bank Funding for Contraceptive Commodities, 2000-2006

Developing Country Governments

Some countries with adequate resources and political will are promoting condom use and funding contraceptive supplies with their own contributions. For example, in South Africa and Botswana—two of the wealthiest sub-Saharan Africa countries and two of the countries most affected by HIV and AIDS—the national governments provide the majority of condoms, distributing them through the public sector and social marketing.³⁵⁸

The Indian government, like several other Asian nations, has long promoted condom use for family planning. The government is a major manufacturer and exporter of male condoms, mostly through Hindustan Latex Limited, one of largest producers of condoms worldwide.³⁵⁹ China, too, isessentially not reliant on donor support for contraceptive commodities.³⁶⁰ In 2005, the government purchased 305 million condoms from the country’s largest condom producer, Gaobang Latex Products Manufactory, and distributed the condoms to hotels and public entertainment places through local Centers of Disease Control.³⁶¹

Some developing country governments are even becoming donors of condoms themselves. In 2006, Thailand's Foreign and Health ministries donated 50,000 condoms to fight AIDS in Africa. The condoms were shipped to Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria and Uganda.³⁶²

Please see the Appendix for this section's end notes.