Condom Bank grants Sierra Leone 5 million condoms
AHF Condom Bank, an innovative global project to provide free condoms to countries and local health ministries in need and seeking to step up their HIV and STD prevention efforts, supplied the Sierra Leone National HIV/AIDS Secretariat and AHF Sierra Leone with five million free condoms for the country’s public/private partnership in the fight against HIV/AIDS
LAKKA, Sierra Leone–(BUSINESS WIRE/AETOS Wire): During an official ceremony Thursday at the beach town resort of Lakka, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) handed over five million free LOVE Condoms to the Sierra Leone National HIV/AIDS Secretariat (NAS) as part of AHF’s innovative Global Condom Bank initiative.
The purpose of the AHF Global Condom Bank is to support and promote HIV prevention by donating AHF branded condoms to government and international agencies that have been unable to procure condoms or are experiencing emergency stock-outs.
“Condoms are still the most cost-effective method of HIV and STD prevention, but we currently have a desperate need for continued supplies in Sierra Leone. I am proud to say our government embraced AHF’s Love Condoms early on and they are very popular,” said Miata Jambawai, AHF Sierra Leone Country Program Manager. “We are happy to assist NAS in this difficult time for Sierra Leone, to ensure that there is an uninterrupted supply of condoms. We will continue to work with NAS in this mutual collaboration in an effort to strengthen and expand condom access in the country, and reduce the number of new infections.”
Now that NAS has received the condoms, it will begin to distribute them as soon as practical. The joint agreement between NAS and AHF indicates the condoms will be distributed free of charge and to those most in need.
“We are proud to work together with AHF to end HIV/AIDS in our country,” said NAS Director General Alhaji Dr. Momodu Sesay. “With our new Cities Initiative and its theme of ‘Ending Epidemics – Delivering Differently,’ our goal is to focus on areas with the highest HIV burden. Five million condoms will help all our endeavors immensely.”
Recognizing that condoms are critical in preventing HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, AHF has donated and distributed over 142 million condoms to individuals, organizations and government agencies worldwide since 2014.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over 805,000 individuals in 39 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare.
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