New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) will soon distribute the Female Health Company’s (FHC) second-generation FC2 Female Condom®, which received approval for the U.S. market from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier this year.

New York City is already the nation’s single largest FC1 female condom distributor. In 2008, the city’s Health Department provided more than 900,000 FC1 female condoms to hospitals, health clinics, community-based organizations, and local screening centers for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

Assistant Commissioner Dr. Monica Sweeney of the Health Department’s Bureau of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control says that the availability of a more cost-effective female condom for the U.S. market will help New York City ensure affordable access to methods for the prevention of pregnancy, HIV, and other STIs.

“This is a boost for HIV and STI prevention efforts in New York City,” said Dr. Sweeney. “It is important to find cost-effective ways to ensure access to safe and effective HIV prevention. The new FDA-approved female condom will expand access to woman-initiated HIV and STI prevention, and it will help us make continued progress in reducing New York City’s HIV infection rate.”

To assist New York City in introducing the second-generation female condom, FHC is participating in a one-day education seminar in lower Manhattan on November 16. The training workshop will include approximately 200 health educators from across the five boroughs who will use the venue to discuss how to introduce FC2 to clients who are currently using FC1, the differences between FC2 and FC1, and frequently asked questions about female condoms. The event will include a lecture by Sandra Mapemba of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), who recently led Malawi’s national transition from FC1 to FC2.

“The evidence is clear that when women and men have access to the female condom and education on its use, it becomes a product they demand and use,” said Ms. Mapemba. “As with any new health product, we need support from government agencies that recognize the importance of education programs that raise awareness of prevention methods that work. UNFPA is excited to work with New York City to share the lessons that we have learned internationally.”

“FHC invested in the development of FC2 as part of our corporate commitment to expand affordable access to the only method of HIV prevention that women can initiate and negotiate with their partners,” said Mary Ann Leeper, Female Health Company’s senior strategic adviser. “We’re thrilled to be working with New York City to ensure that people living at risk for HIV have access to FC2.

“The statistics show that HIV is becoming a women’s pandemic around the world, and it has become a leading cause of death among African American and Hispanic women in the United States,” Leeper said. “CDC statistics indicate that African American women account for 61% of HIV infections among women in the United States, and Latino women are four times more likely to be infected with HIV than white women. We are focused on providing women at risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections with access to a prevention method that they can initiate and negotiate with their partners.”

FC2 has been available internationally since 2005, and more than 90 countries currently distribute it as part of their national HIV prevention programs. Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe recently became the first countries to scale up distribution to the national level with the support of training programs that teach women how to use the female condom and discuss it with their partners. In fiscal year 2008, global distribution of FC female condoms (FC1 & FC2) reached an all-time high of nearly 35 million units.

The second-generation FC2 Female Condom is made with a synthetic rubber polymer called nitrile, while the first-generation FC1 Female Condom is made with polyurethane. Research has demonstrated that FC2 and FC1 are comparable in performance, and the introduction of nitrile allows FC2 to be manufactured via a cost-efficient dipping process. The change in manufacturing process has helped FHC to reduce the cost of FC2 by 30 percent relative to FC1, and the company projects that significant increases in global volume will allow further price reductions.

The FC female condom (FC1 and FC2) remains the only FDA approved, female-initiated method of HIV prevention introduced since the start of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic in the early 1980s. Because the female condom can be initiated by women and inserted before sex, it provides women and men at risk of HIV with a safe alternative when a partner refuses to wear a male condom. More than 70 reproductive health advocacy organizations in the United States have endorsed expanded access to the FC female condom as an essential step toward enhancing HIV prevention for women.

Source: Female Health Company