Wits unwrapping the female condom
JOBURG - Wits is joining initiative Dance4Demand to ensure the demand for female condoms is met.
Global Female Condom Day will be observed on 16 September and Wits University will join sexual and reproductive health and rights advocates around the world on the day to call for increased global investment in female condoms based on widespread demand.
The female condom is the only HIV, sexually transmitted infection and pregnancy-prevention option that is woman-initiated and currently available.
Though classified as a female condom, it offers people of any gender who engage in receptive sex a way to take greater control of their health. Despite the effectiveness of female condoms and the public health need, many people cannot access them in their communities.
Wits University, in partnership with Path, a leader in global health innovation, and the Higher Education and Training HIV/Aids programme, supports the Dance4Demand to show visible energy, excitement and demand for greater access to female condoms.
Wits’ Dance4Demand programme is sub-themed, Femidom – The Rise Jive from 1.15pm to 2.15pm at the Library Lawns.
“Apart from adding our voices to the global campaign, through this initiative, Wits aims to engage the South African community to broadly promote student health with a specific focus on female students,” said Vinoba Krishna, HIV programme co-ordinator at the Wits Counselling and Careers Development Unit.
Sister Yvonne Matimba of the Wits Campus Health and Wellness Centre added that the global event was an opportunity to reinforce positive messages and empower students with strategies to negotiate safer sex with their partners.
“Female condoms have many benefits and help to put power in the hands of women to exercise much more control over their own bodies,” she said.
Details: www.path.org
