Chinese condoms 'too small,’ says Zimbabwean minister

World
Europe

Zimbabwean health minister David Parirenyatwa has reportedly urged private manufacturers in the country to produce condoms to help "address concerns over the size of condoms imported from China."

The minister's call to manufacturers came after he remarked that the size of Chinese-made condoms were too small for local men, and could lead to health risks.

“The youths now have a particular condom that they like but we don’t manufacture them. We import condoms from China and some men complain that they are too small,” Parirenyatwa said during an HIV/AIDS prevention event in Harare last week, according to local media reports.

“The imported options aren’t quite up to task,” Parirenyatwa added, calling on the local private companies help the fight against HIV by manufacturing drugs, as well as condoms, that are suitable for the Zimbabwean people.

“We need to look at that. You need to be able to have our own condoms. So, if you want to be a big businessman, then manufacture them (condoms) for the region.”

In response to the comment, Zhao Chuan, the chief executive of Beijing Daxiang and His Friends Technology Co., one of the most popular Chinese condom brands in Zimbabwe, claimed that the company plans to adapt their products for local consumers’ needs.

“As to the different demands from customers such as in Zimbabwe, Daxiang, as a Chinese manufacturer, has the ability and the obligation to make a contribution, so we have started to do surveys in different regions to make a preparation for future products,” Zhao announced in an email to South China Morning Post.

Zimbabwe has been the one of the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence in Sub-Saharan African. Unprotected heterosexual sex continues to be the main transmission route for new infections. According to 2016 statistics from The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), around 13.5 percent of its population is affected by the disease – with 30,000 AIDS-related death each year.

Chart from the UNAIDS website.

To fight against the disease, the country has become of the top five condoms importers in the world, as the use of condoms is a key way to prevent the disease from spreading, according to News Zimbabwe.

Around 13.5 percent of its population in Zimbabwe is affected by the disease, with 30,000 AIDS-related death each year./Phoro via VCG

According to Xinhua News, people in Zimbabwe can receive free condoms from public places like bars, clinics and campuses. Local stores sell condoms at a subsidized price.

China is one of the world’s largest condom producers, which has about 300 condom manufacturers producing about three billion of the contraceptives each year, according to China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission.

As one of the world’s largest condom producers, China produced over three billion of the contraceptives each year./Phoro via VCG