Kicking Condoms

After a late night out, a young Guinean wakes up to the call of prayer. Afraid of being late to the mosque, he rushes to get ready, pulling on the same shirt he wore the night before.

He hurries into the mosque to join the other men from his community, but as he leans down to begin his prayers something falls out of his pocket onto the floor. It’s a package of Prudence Plus condoms that he had grabbed the night before on the way to visit his girlfriend.

Embarrassed, he gives it a kick, hoping that no one notices it. The package lands beside the feet of the imam. Horrified that it could tarnish his reputation, the imam kicks the condom to where it lands in front of another man. In this way, a silent game of “football” begins, with the condom being passed from one to the next, each fearful of losing his reputation if the “ball” stops near him.

The “football match” at this mosque in the Labé Region in north central Guinea illustrates some of the challenges faced by PSI/Guinea as it tries to increase the sustainable availability of condoms for young people. Throughout the past two years, PSI/Guinea has tried to integrate its condoms into the commercial sector.

Although the Prudence Plus condom brand is well known throughout Guinea, it is not distributed or sold by many of Guinea’s wholesalers or pharmacists.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that this hesitancy may arise from religious convictions. In addition, young people who use (or may wish to use) condoms do not want to offend or anger religious leaders and elders, who often have strong judgments about condom use.

Guinea is facing a generalized HIV epidemic, with a general population prevalence of 1.5 percent. The prevalence among young people is somewhat lower at 0.9 percent, but poised to increase given that more than half of high-risk sex takes place in urban areas among young people aged 15-24 years (Demographic and Health Surveys 2005). Furthermore, even though 59 percent of youth claim that Prudence Plus condoms are available near their homes, only 35 percent report using a condom consistently with extramarital partners in the previous year.

So how is PSI/Guinea going to ensure that its target population – young people – uses condoms to reduce HIV prevalence? The first step is to make sure Prudence Plus condoms are available in outlets where young people typically purchase them. These outlets are called tabliers (places where candies, cookies and cigarettes are sold). To do this, PSI/Guinea must understand the beliefs and motivations that influence wholesalers’ decisions to distribute condoms. Enter FoQus on Traders.

FoQus ON TRADERS

FoQus is an umbrella term for PSI’s qualitative research studies, comprising a set of approaches for gaining insight into various target audiences. A new addition is FoQus on Traders, which pairs researchers with PSI sales and distribution teams to understand the drivers and barriers for the stocking and selling behavior of product retailers. In many countries where PSI works, one of the challenges has been a lack of understanding of how traders of fast-moving consumer goods think or behave with respect to stocking and selling PSI products. This lack can contribute to excessive direct-to-retail delivery systems, which in turn can lead to pipeline waste, high trader turnover and a reduced ability to develop sustainable, consumer-driven supply and demand systems. PSI developed FoQus on Traders to help field offices gain needed insight into trader motivation. FoQus on Traders findings provide in-depth portraits of retailers and wholesalers that can help identify ways to improve the efficiency and sustainability of PSI’s distribution systems.

In PSI/Guinea’s case, the team will conduct a FoQus on Traders in 2012 to identify the barriers that prevent wholesalers from stocking Prudence Plus condoms, and what may motivate them to start.

– By PSI authors: Camara Lansana, Director of Research and Monitoring and Evaluation, PSI/ Guinea; Jyoti Kulangara, Coordinator, Corporate Marketing, Communications & Advocacy, Washington, D.C.