October 2001

Acceptability of the Female Condom After a Social Marketing Campaign in Campinas, Brazil

Intervention Components

The intervention consisted of promotional, educational, and sales activities. The project team and the local social marketing organization, DKT, identified sales outlets near each study site, such as pharmacies, sex work establishments, and nightclubs, that agreed to sell the female condom.¹ The project promoted the device through theatrical street performances and in selected sex establishments. Following the performances, the actors provided the audience with female and male condoms and information on the female condom, which included a list of nearby sales outlets. DKT also promoted the female condoms through several news stories in popular magazines and newspapers.

Every two weeks the project team conducted educational activities with small groups of sex workers from each study site (about 12 visits per site over the course of the intervention). The sessions included informal discussions on STI/HIV prevention and reproductive health. A pelvic model was used to demonstrate how to insert the female condom, and participants were given the opportunity to practice with the model, ask questions, and discuss relevant issues.

A result of the educational activities was the establishment of the “Help Line.” This was a cell phone number that sex workers could call to talk with a health promoter about usage problems and health concerns, or about how to locate female condoms.

¹ The price for a box of two female condoms established by DKT was approximately R$5.00 to R$7.00, equivalent to US$2.55 to US$3.57 (US$1.28 to US$1.79 each).

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This page updated on
19 Oct 2007