359 cartons of condom ready for distribution

THE National Aids Council has 359 cartons of condoms available for distribution, regional manager Valentine Tangoh says.
Tangoh said that samples of the condoms were sent to Bangkok for testing to validate their quality.
“The result has already come from Bangkok through FHI360 and the results have been negative, which means the condoms are genuine and they are in the right condition for people to use,” Tangoh said.
“So we have enough condoms to distribute on World Aids Day and also the PNG Games this year.
“We do not have female condoms, so we already got a quote from Population Service International (PSI), but again we need funding to submit a request to purchase female condoms to accompany the male condoms.
PSI has already indicated that it will be selling some condoms to us.
Tangoh said PNG Power Ltd had collected 10 cartons from them already and they would be distributing them to their centres nationwide.
“We have got condoms here available and they have been cleared already so it’s good news for us,” he said.
“Oil Search will also be collecting their share to distribute in Hela.
“That’s a good sign of people taking ownership of it and it’s not about us, it’s about your employees as well.
“For this year, we have companies trying to attend our meetings and they are willing to take part in World Aids Day. The invitation is open to everyone. HIV and Aids is everybody’s business.”
Tangoh said they would start distributing to the provinces once they had funding for logistics.
For now, their interim board could only approve K20,000 and they need up to K500,000 to complete the distribution.