Tuesday, February 15, 2011

PPRM celebrates National Condom Week!

To kickoff National Condom Week, February 14-19, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains will give away condoms in exchange for a minimal donation at its health centers in Colorado all week; proceeds will then be donated to a Planned Parenthood International (PPI) project to buy condoms in for populations who are at great risk Latin America.

In addition to protecting themselves and their partners from unintended pregnancy and STDs, clientele who participate in this campaign will become part of an effort to increase access to sexual and reproductive health information and services in the most remote and underserved communities around the world.

National Condom Week, which originally began at the University of California, Berkeley in the ‘70s, has great relevance in America too.  Research shows that every year in the United States there are more than three million unintended pregnancies, and approximately 19 million women and men will contract a sexually transmitted disease.  Condoms used consistently and correctly provide the best protection against sexually transmitted infections for sexually active women and men. They also protect against unintended pregnancy.

Yet many people don’t know how to properly use a condom. In a study published in the International Journal of STD and AIDS in 2008, men attending an STD clinic reported that during the previous three month period:
  • 29 percent put the condom on upside down and then turned it over;
  • 28.4 percent removed the condom before completing intercourse;
  • 30 percent experienced problems with fit or feel of the condom;
  • 31 percent had a condom break.
PPRM encourages men and women to take responsibility for their sexual health; National Condom Week is an opportunity for sexually active partners to discuss whose responsibility it is to provide condoms.  In fact, Planned Parenthood’s line of Proper Attire condoms are available year‑round at Planned Parenthood health centers, or they can be ordered online by going to www.properattirecondoms.com.