The Condom Nation tour, an initiative by AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), is a six-month, 40-city tour throughout the country to promote condom use and safer sex. Although the tour has now reached its halfway mark, AHF is still going strong to provide 10 million free condoms and information on safer sex to their remaining 13 cities. Condon-Nation, which is conducted on an 18-wheeler big rig truck, was launched from Venice Beach, California, on February 13th, a day informally known as International Condom Day. Since it’s start, the tour has hit over 20 cities, providing free condoms and HIV and STD tests. The tour was originally supposed to finish at the International AIDS Conference, hosted in Washington DC at the end of July, but the event has been so well received that AHF is looking to expand the tour to finish at the end of the year.
One of AHF’s main goals for Condom Nation is to bring attention to their national advocacy campaign to lower the price of condoms. In a statement on Condom-Nation’s tumblr site, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation calls for retailers to lower the price of condoms to 25 cents each. The site explains how the production of condoms costs $0.04, yet retailers still mark up prices to over $1.00. This markup is proving to be too expensive for low-income individuals and local health clinics. The article also mentions how too few people have affordable and reliable access to condoms, especially since less than 50% of men and women ages 18-24 and less than 30% of men and women ages 25-34 reported using condoms during their previous sexual encounters (National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior).
According to Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Condom Nation is “a serious, yet somewhat whimsical and creative effort by AIDS Healthcare Foundation to help promote increased condom use and to help make condoms more accessible and affordable. Our hope is that Condom Nation raises awareness and sparks conversations along the way—both on the coasts and in the heartland—about the importance of condoms and the crucial role they play in disease prevention and safer sex.”
Next stop for the tour: Brooklyn, NY for Brooklyn Gay Pride, this Saturday, June 9th. Check out Condon-Nation’s twitter for their tour schedule and more up to date information.
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