Rwanda imposes ban on ‘leaking’ condom

Merely days after Kenya and Zambia banned the condom brand known as “Hot” after realizing that it was leaking, Rwanda has also ordered the brand off the shelves. A Wednesday statement by the Rwanda Bureau of Standards (RBS) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the National Aids Control Commission (CNLS) warned the general public of this condom brand. “Our inspectors are now everywhere in the country, they have withdrawn the brands in Kigali and are continuing elsewhere. We issued public notices and have told CAMERWA to be strict,” said Patrice Ntiyamira, Director of the Metrology and Material Testing unit at RBS. The non-profit entity, CAMERWA, established by government in 1988, acts as the central procurement body for drugs, consumables and equipment in the country. Dr. Anita Asiimwe, the CNLS Executive Secretary, said the brand is banned until further notice. “We actually worked with RBS on this because it is not in our mandate. Right now, what we know is that the condoms leak,” said Dr. Asiimwe. Neighbouring Uganda was also this week reported to be investigating the lethal brand of condoms. The statement also calls upon the general public to neither buy nor use that particular brand. The Kenya Bureau of Standards (KBS) banned the condom last week after detecting a 100 percent failure rate. Ntiyamira revealed that the regional standards bodies have a common ground where they alert each other. He regretted that no quality analysis was done before the condoms were allowed into the country. This comes as CNLS announced that in December it will embark on a three-month national condom use awareness campaign that will involve the introduction of condom-dispensing machines in most work places so people can access them easily. Ends