KINGSTON, Jamaica — The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has donated 700,000 condoms to the Jamaica Family Planning Association (FamPlan) for free distribution islandwide.

The donation agreement was signed on Wednesday at AHF Jamaica’s offices on Hagley Park Road in Kingston.

Caribbean Regional Director for AHF, Dr Kevin Harvey in a release said the AHF has been stressing the need to mainstream condom use to encourage persons to join the prevention efforts in the fight against HIV/ AIDS and other STIs by protecting themselves and their partners.  

“Each year the AHF donates over 40 million condoms to our various country programmes. This year we are making an additional push to provide condoms to persons to ensure that they have the option to use condoms to reduce risky sexual behaviour and therefore the prevalence of HIV and AIDS,” he said.

FamPlans CEO, St Rachel Ustanny indicated that her organisation has the capacity to store and distribute the condoms and will make them available to various NGOs and the population that they serve for free.

“We believe this will go a far way in alleviating the demand for condoms,” Ustanny said.

Condoms are considered the most effective way to prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases as well as preventing unwanted pregnancies.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is the largest global AIDS organisation and currently provides medical care and/or services to over 683,000 clients in 38 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe.