Gay MP's at the Labour Party's annual conference this weekend have proposed subsidising shop-bought condoms to cut down on STI's and unplanned pregnancies, reports the Herald on Sunday. The party's 'rainbow sector' and health specialists believe moves to make condoms at supermarkets and dairies cheaper would mean they would be more likely to be picked up by consumers who currently have to pay to visit their GP for their subsidised safer sex supply. The cut-price condoms would only be 'basic' style, with no flavoured or ribbed style subsidised, the paper notes. New Zealanders currently use up over 9 million subsidised condoms each year at a cost of less then $1 million, but Labour's health spokeswoman Ruth Dyson told the Herald that cheaper condoms in shops could reduce this cost and end up being more effective in the fight against sexual health issues. The NZ AIDS Foundation gives away tens of thousands of free condom and lube packs each year at gay venues around New Zealand and at its clinics in the main centres. Yesterday its new safe sex campaign Get it On! was launched, with an anonymous mail order service on its website for ordering free safe sex packs. Meanwhile, several Sexual Health Centres around the country sell bulk packs of condoms for just $3.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News Staff
First published: Sunday, 13th September 2009 - 3:10pm