Desperate measures amid shortage in Kenya
LAST WEEK, the Kenyan government requested an emergency order of 45 million condoms from PEPFAR.
A January consignment of 19 million condoms lasted for around six weeks. The emergency supply from the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is expected on April 10. Not soon enough.
PlusNews reports some Kenyans, especially those in rural areas where condoms are especially sparce, are making the alarming choice to recycle their condoms.  In other words, they are washing used condoms and using them again.
Local TV channels recently showed images of men in Isiolo, in rural northern Kenya, washing condoms and hanging them out to dry; the men said the price of condoms meant they could not afford to use them just once.
Other men in the village said when they had no access to condoms, they used polythene bags and even cloth rags when having sex.

Despite the fact that washing and reusing condoms is just about as unappealing as, well, washing and reusing condoms, you may be wondering: Is this even remotely safe? No.
PlusNews explains: Male condoms are intended for single use; washing and re-using them weakens the latex, increasing the chances of breakage and, in turn, the risk of unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Washing condoms in dirty water may also carry additional disease risk.
Facts are facts.  But I can’t help thinking the alternative – using no condom – may be even worse?
PlusNews spoke to a man who’s struggled with that same quandary.  His solution: Wash, dry and reuse.  And his wife, Josephine, approves.
Hosea Motoro, 37, knows he risks infecting his wife of seven years with HIV if he does not use a condom.
“I know I am positive, but I don’t want to give my wife HIV. And I know if I use a condom, she is safe. We also don’t want any children, because we already have five and that is enough for us,” he said.
Motoro usually walks the 5km to his nearest health centre for condoms, but on occasion finds them out of stock.
“When you go and you are lucky to get [condoms], you use; then you wash and use another time,” he added. “But the washed one is very difficult to put on, and I don’t know if it protects like the new one.”
His wife, Josephine, says sex with a used condom is unpleasant, but believes it is better than no condom at all.
“It feels rough, but what do you do when you know he is positive; you don’t want to get HIV and you also have to give him sex,” she said.