AMIDST rising concerns over the number of young persons who are contracting the HIV/AIDS virus, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has embarked on a global re-education about the use of condoms and other reproductive health issues.

Over one billion people globally are within the age group 15 to 25 years and many are sexually active, and too often without protection, Jagdish Upadhyay, UNFPA Commodity Management Unit chief, told 40 representatives from Latin America, the Caribbean, Pacific islands and Africa last Friday at a two-day workshop on reproductive health commodity security.

The workshop, held at the Hilton Kingston Hotel, is aimed at promoting the global initiative of meeting reproductive rights in the pursuit of human development.

According to Upadhyay, the condom campaign in developing countries was not affecting behavioural change at the community level.

“After 30 years within the system, I have seen only a seven to eight per cent increase in the use of condoms, Upadhyay said.

The problem was that condoms were available but the targeted groups were not using them sufficiently, he said.

The issue of quality control was raised by Madagascar’s deputy representative, who said that there were criticisms about the quality of the condoms and little knowledge about storage and quality control in his country.

Other participants said that within the Pacific islands, young persons (15-25 years old) were requesting coloured and flavoured condoms. It was hoped that the UNFPA would change to meet the demands of those the organisation needed to reach.

The UNFPA statistical data also indicated that there was a shortfall in the number of persons receiving condoms at the right time, of the right quality and at affordable prices. This, the UNFPA is attempting to fix as the world’s largest source of population assistance, and a major international partner for sourcing and supplying reproductive health commodities and medical supplies.

The initiative was adopted by the International Conference on Population Development (ICPD) in 1994 from which a programme of action established the goal of universal access to reproductive health services by 2015. Reproductive health means reducing poverty, the number of women and newborn babies who die each year and the number of men, women and children who contract HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Hetty Sarjeant, UNFPA representative in Jamaica, reiterated the urgent need to achieve this goal “with the growing threat of HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean”. She added that the “partnership of government, NGOs, and private sector is key to ensuring an adequate distribution of reproductive health commodities (ie condoms, pills, IUDs, female condoms)”.

To drive home its message, the UNFPA has held nine workshops on the issue, the last of which is being held in Jamaica. The Jamaica office is responsible for 21 countries with specific focus on six priority countries, namely Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, St Lucia, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago.

But critical data was needed to identify those targeted for improved reproductive health in Jamaica.

According to Gillian Lindsay-Nanton, resident co-ordinator for the UN systems in Jamaica, only 47.7 per cent of the target group within the public sector attended clinics in 2002.

Unless these women had since moved to access private health services, this was cause for concern and should be addressed, she said.

Meanwhile, in his inaugural address to the conference, Minister of Information Burchell Whiteman lauded the group for making reproductive health a “rights-based issue” which, he said, directly impacted the lives of women and children.

The minister emphasised that in Jamaica, the procurement and distribution of sexual-related drugs and equipment was the sole responsibility of the Government. He, however, said that the support of the UN, including the UNFPA, was greatly appreciated, especially at a time when other donor agencies had shifted focus and countries had lost funds in the midst of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other STDs which threaten to retard development.

Speaking on the role of governments, UNFPA regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Dr Marisela Padron Quero said that it was important that an enabling environment be provided to accommodate the new paradigm in the area of population and development.

“This new focus is based on the right of couples to decide freely and responsibly about the number and spacing of their children and to have the information and the means to do so,” she said. “The exercise of this right is premised on the availability and access to high quality reproductive health services …to ensure that choices are available.”

The workshop, attended by representatives from Fiji, Madagascar, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Suriname, Rwanda, Venuata, the Caribbean and Latin America, ended Saturday with a plan of action for participating countries on how to lobby governments to change policy which will affect the increased access and sustainability of the supply and demand of critical medicines and equipment for the promotion of healthier societies.