health

Oct. 13, 2020

LINEO MABEKEBEKE

2 min read

LPPA, partners worry about poor use of condoms

LPPA, partners worry about poor use of condoms

UNFPA Country Representative Dr Marc Derveeuw

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HIGH unplanned pregnancies and HIV infections among young people show that the use of condoms and access to them is relatively low among that group of the population, the Chief Executive Officer of the Lesotho Planned Parenthood Association (LPPA), ’Mamojela Koneshe has said.

She was speaking at the handing over ceremony of a total of 705 200 branded condoms by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to LPPA on Tuesday in Maseru.

Mrs Koneshe said LPPA and other partners are concerned that if the situation remains the unchanged, the youth will face dire consequences that will be detrimental to both their health and future.

“This is evidenced by high unplanned pregnancies and HIV infections among the young people, that is why LPPA continuously provides sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information and services to them and intensifies comprehensive sexuality education to out of school youth and herd-boys,” she further showed.

She therefore urged all concerned parties to do everything in their power to help the young people to lead meaningful lives, as it is their responsibility to understand their world.

Through their engagement, she said the youth were able to influence condom programming with ideas suitable to their needs, and in response to those notions, both LPPA and UNFPA have worked tirelessly to ensure that condoms that are used by young people are as youth friendly as possible.

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For his part, the UNFPA Country Representative Dr Marc Derveeuw, said the commodities donated included scented male condoms to the tune of $27,000 (roughly M444 420) and were procured as a response to the 2019 National Condom Strategy recommendations, which alluded that young people and key populations prefer scented and branded condoms as opposed to the generic ones.

He applauded LPPA for being one of the most trusted partners for educating on use and distribution of condoms.

The purpose of the event was to intensify efforts towards preventing HIV and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) amongst the high risk populations through combination prevention approach.

The Branded condoms will be distributed along the borders in Maseru, Mafeteng and Maputsoe, as well as different areas where LPPA provides SRHR outreach services.

This is part of a Comprehensive HIV Prevention Project implemented by LPPA through the support of UNFPA in Leribe, Botha-Bothe, Mokhotlong, Maseru, Mafeteng and Quthing.

 

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