THE first of 12 condom-dispensing machines was last Friday commissioned in Montego Bay, one of several resort areas recording high rates of HIV/AIDS infection.

It was installed last Friday in a male bathroom at the Margaritaville entertainment complex on Gloucester Avenue.

According to Ruth Jankee of the National AIDS Committee in the Ministry of Health, the move to install condom-dispensing machines in St James was driven by the accelerating rate of HIV/AIDS infection in the parish, which continues to lead the rest of the country in the number of reported cases.

“Twelve to 13 people die of AIDS each week in Jamaica. And it is affecting the age group between 20 and 40, because 50 per cent of that population is infected with HIV/AIDS,” Jankee added.

In addition to targeting Montego Bay, the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) in conjunction with the health and tourism ministries have also targeted the Negril and Ocho Rios areas. Jankee said over the next two months, Negril and Ocho Rios will also be fitted with similar condom-dispensing machines.

Jankee emphasised that the initiative was a pilot project that would expire at the end of the year. She noted that the machines would be maintained by Facey Commodity, which would be loading the dispenser with Trojan and Durex Condoms.

It will cost $30 to access a condom from the machines.

The condom-dispensing machine was first introduced at Jamaica’s two main universities – the University of the West Indies and the University of Technology. The third was installed at Caymanas Park in St Catherine.

Meanwhile, Dr Tamu Saddler of the Western Regional Health Authority, who was guest speaker at the launch, suggested that a condom-dispensing machine be placed beside every Automated Teller Machine (ATM), as part of the country’s safe sex campaign.

“It is kind of a wish of mine to even see a condom machine beside an ATM machine – that is what you call 24-hour access to condoms,” Saddler said.

“We need to ensure that condoms are accessible to all – 24-hour access especially to all sexes – to the sexually active males and females.” This, she said, should work in tandem with programmes geared at promoting HIV/AIDS awareness, as it is paramount in preventing the spreading of the disease among the population.

General manager at Sandals Montego Bay Horace Peterkin said he would be moving to have two of the machines installed on the hotel property, adding that he would be promoting the idea among his Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) colleagues. “This is a great idea, and I will be selling the idea to my colleagues in the hotel sector,” Peterkin declared.