Kigali — Health experts attending the 2007 HIV/Aids Implementers' meeting have said that culture is one of the major hindrances to the use of female condoms. Addressing a press conference yesterday at Jali club, Vice President of Health and Development International Center for Research on Women, Sarah Kambou said that culture was one of the reasons that have led to the low rate of female condom use.

"Sometimes women dont know how they introduce them (female codoms) to their spouses; it needs a lot of advocacy to overcome this challenge," said Kambou.

The Director of Uganda Aids Commision, Dr. David Apuuli, also said it is difficult in African societies for women to propose use of condom to their husbands.

He however disclosed another reason. "In some cases, women who use them have complained that they are not user-friendly and that they make a lot of noise during sexual intercourse." He was however quick to add that sex does not necessary have to be a quiet affair.

The female condom is a 16.5cm long polyurethane sheath inserted into a woman's vagina before sexual intercourse. It was proved that a female condom lines the vagina and prevents pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

And as the international conference on HIV pandemic went into its second day, anti-Aids campaigners expressed their concern about the unpopularity of female condom.

Paul Warambia, an HIV/Aids advocate from the Kenya-based Ambassodors of Hope, said: "A female condom is a very vital tool in the fight against HIV, but how many people have seen a female condom? How many have used it?"

David Wilson, a member of Global Aids Monitoring and Evaluation Team from the World Bank, said that the reason why female condoms were not popular is because of lack of women empowerment in society.

Apuuli also said that some condoms have been rejected because of their bad smell. Hundreds of of HIV/Aids advocates, experts, doctors, clerics, government delegates and officials of UN agencies from around the world are attending the four-day meeting.