Rising VD cases prompts DCD to look for better ways to distribute condoms in Bangkok
The Disease Control Department is calling on operators of food and drink vending machines to also distribute condoms for free as venereal disease is spreading fast among young people.
DCD director-general Thongchai Keeratihuttayakorn said on Wednesday that Sun Vending Technology (SVT) has agreed to be the first company to support DCD’s “condom anytime, anywhere” policy.
He said STV will help distribute condoms as well as HIV self-test kits via its vending machines in Siam Square from Thursday.
SVT is supporting the project as part of its CSR programme.
Thongchai said DCD has enough condoms and HIV self-test kits to distribute freely but has no means of reaching out to teenagers.
The DCD has already done a test run of distributing free condoms and HIV kits via snack and drink vending machines at Siam Square One and Bangkok Thonburi University. The test run was so successful, Thongchai said, that DCD wants to expand the coverage.
Its initial plan is to find eight vending machines in places like department stores, universities and communities in Bangkok.
He said more young people will access condoms and HIV test kits through snack and drink vending machines because it will be less embarrassing for them, compared to going directly to condom vending machines.
He said DCD’s aim is not to encourage teenagers to have sex, but more to protect them from sexually transmitted diseases and HIV as infections are on the rise.
For instance, syphilis infections have more than doubled from 11 per 100,000 people in 2018 to 24.8 per 100,000 last year.
When looking at the rate of syphilis among young people, the infection rate rose from 27.9 per 100,000 in 2018 to 90.5 per 100,000 last year, he said.
When the rate of venereal disease was counted among youth aged between 15 and 27, the infection rate rose from 99.6 per 100,000 in 2017 to 112.3 per 100,000 in 2022, Thongchai added.
He said the risk of young people getting HIV is rising, considering their rate of condom use.
A 2019 survey showed that only 80% of youths used condoms during intercourse, but the rate dropped to 40% when they had sex with regular partners, he added.
