A section of lawmakers have attributed the high HIV/AIDs infections to the high cost of condoms, forcing some poor Ugandans to choose between spending money on the purchase of condoms or buying food.
The revelation was made by lawmakers on Parliament’s Committee on HIV/AIDs and other related matters while interfacing with officials from Uganda Aids Commission to update Parliament on the status of HIV/AIDs pandemic and response in Uganda.
Joel Leku (Terego west) wondered why he has never seen the free condoms distributed in his district where condoms are sold at Shs2000, yet some of his electorates live on Shs1000. Leku said: “This money is too much when you are in dire need of that activity, it might find you when you have Shs1000. Imagine we are living on less than Shs1000 a day and then you must buy condoms at Shs2000, so this becomes a choice on whether to buy condoms or not. Usually, the women don’t ask us why we are going skin to skin, but this is why. So we are asking the organization to come to our rescue.”
He was backed by Stephen Kisa (Luuka South) who expressed concern over the reduced use of condoms within Parliament building and encouraged fellow MPs to make use of the free condoms distributed by MPs.
Kisa said: “They are inside our work place here but equally, unlike before, the disappearance of these condoms is at a slow pace. When you go there you find, I don’t know if they are adding more and more each day, but at least it appears the consumption rate has also reduced in relation to this particular organization.”
He also tasked the Aids Commission to explain why the cost of condoms is very high and whether this could be attributed to high taxes. “Some condoms come in at a free cost if it isn’t these NGOs that support us, for those members who go to the market, you find that the most serious one is highly at Shs10,000 plus, depending on the vulnerability on the way you are going to use it, is it taxed?” asked Kisa.
However, Nelson Musoba, Director General of Uganda Aids Commission informed the Committee that all reproductive health related products are tax free so condoms aren’t taxed, adding that issues around condom use or availability range from behavior and willingness to use condoms.
“You will be surprised that studies were done and a number of people were not favouring the free condoms. When condoms were provided, they preferred to go for branded condoms,” said Musoba.
He added that studies conducted have shown that generally, African men don’t like condoms, “So they need to be talked to because even when manufacturers were asked to set up factories here to manufacture condoms, they said there is low market and use.”
Kisa also called on the Commission to rethink strategies of dealing with sex workers arguing that commercial sex has shifted from urban centers to trading centers including the rural areas.
He explained: “When I was traversing my constituency, you would see very active people, especially now that there is a rural electrification agency, darkness is no longer there, and you would see some people standing there. As you think about strategy of these sex workers, you shouldn’t think about these well-developed urban places, the trading centres have become centers of attraction.”
