Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 May 16;12(5):e0177108.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0177108. eCollection 2017.

The case for investing in the male condom

John Stover  1 , James E Rosen  1 , Maria Nadia Carvalho  1 , Eline L Korenromp  1 , Howard S Friedman  2 , Matthew Cogan  2 , Bidia Deperthes  2
Affiliations

The case for investing in the male condom

John Stover et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

When used correctly and consistently, the male condom offers triple protection from unintended pregnancy and the transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). However, with health funding levels stagnant or falling, it is important to understand the cost and health impact associated with prevention technologies. This study is one of the first to attempt to quantify the cost and combined health impact of condom use, as a means to prevent unwanted pregnancy and to prevent transmission of STIs including HIV. This paper describes the analysis to make the case for investment in the male condom, including the cost, impact and cost-effectiveness by three scenarios (low in which 2015 condom use levels are maintained; medium in which condom use trends are used to predict condom use from 2016-2030; and high in which condom use is scaled up, as part of a package of contraceptives, to meet all unmet need for family planning by 2030 and to 90% for HIV and STI prevention by 2016) for 81 countries from 2015-2030. An annual gap between current and desired use of 10.9 billion condoms was identified (4.6 billion for family planning and 6.3 billion for HIV and STIs). Under a high scenario that completely reduces that gap between current and desired use of 10.9 billion condoms, we found that by 2030 countries could avert 240 million DALYs. The additional cost in the 81 countries through 2030 under the medium scenario is $1.9 billion, and $27.5 billion under the high scenario. Through 2030, the cost-effectiveness ratios are $304 per DALY averted for the medium and $115 per DALY averted for the high scenario. Under the three scenarios described above, our analysis demonstrates the cost-effectiveness of the male condom in preventing unintended pregnancy and HIV and STI new infections. Policy makers should increase budgets for condom programming to increase the health return on investment of scarce resources.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Global current use and need for condoms for family planning and STI/HIV prevention, 2015 (billions), 81 countries.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Cost-effectiveness of various HIV/STI/FP interventions, cost per DALY averted, $US 2015.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. UNAIDS. Meeting Report: Data for Fast-Tracking Condom Programmes. Global Condom Steering Group, Geneva, March 2016.
    1. Trussell J. Contraceptive Efficacy In: Hatcher RA, Trussell J, Nelson AL, Cates W, Kowal D, Policar M. Contraceptive Technology: Twentieth Revised Edition. New York NY: Ardent Media, 2011. Table 3–2.
    1. Weller S, Davis K. Condom effectiveness in reducing heterosexual HIV transmission. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2002; (1):CD003255 10.1002/14651858.CD003255 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ghys PD, Diallo MO, Ettiègne-Traoré V, Kalé K, Tawil O, Caraël M, et al. Increase in condom use and decline in HIV and sexually transmitted diseases among female sex workers in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, 1991–1998. AIDS, 2002;16(2):251–258. - PubMed
    1. Holmes KK, Levine R, Weaver M. Effectiveness of condoms in preventing sexually transmitted infections. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 2004; 82(6). - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources