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NEWS > HEALTH > MILLIONS OF CONDOMS LIKELY WON’T BE USED AT WORLD CUP
MILLIONS OF CONDOMS LIKELY WON’T BE USED AT WORLD CUP
March 10 2010
Johannesburg, South Africa – Throughout our very short history on this planet humanity has faced a great number of threats to our existence. Natural disasters, ice ages, environmental contamination, war, and, of course, plague have all threatened
our otherwise complete dominance of the planet. Some of those near disasters have actually pushed our species to the precipice, such as a massive volcanic explosion during the last major ice age which brought nuclear winter and near extinction of our species well before we could have done anything about it. In recent years such threats haven’t abated, but our massive numbers inhibit to sheer level of damage such catastrophes can create.
There have been few threats to our species as widespread or as dangerous as the ongoing AIDS epidemic. While far from the sheer numbers of disease such as the Black Plague, which killed 100 million people in two years, the ubiquitous nature of the disease and its long term effects present one of the greatest threats to human civilization we have yet encountered. One area that has been profoundly affected by the disease is Sub-Saharan Africa with two thirds of the world’s cases 
occurring on that continent. Because of extreme poverty throughout those nations, access to medication is limited resulting in many deaths which could threaten the stability of those nations and the entire continent. Realizing that threat, organizers for the World Cup in South Africa have imported millions of condoms are currently seeking up to a billion for the games, even though many realize that the majority of them will go unused.
“There's going to be a large number of people who will be descending on to the country. There's going to be a spirit of festivity and... there could be a more than usual demand for measures such as condoms. So there are measures in place to ensure that the condom supply is going to be ramped up during this tournament,” said South African medical official Victor Ramathesele. “I mean we realize that most people won’t use them, that’s kind of how we go into this problem in the first place, but we want to be ready just in case.”
An estimated 35 million people around the world are living with HIV, 5 million of who live in South Africa where the World Cup is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of visitors.
“Obviously there are other concerns such as pregnancy or other sexually transmitted diseases, but the big concern for officials and medical personnel is HIV which is ridiculously prominent through the country. I mean you get a drink at a water fountain and bam! AIDS. The situation is really quite dire so the safest thing would be to just send the condoms,” said Scrape TV Health analyst Rebecca Phelps. “People are going to have sex so by presenting them with a safe option there is at least a chance that they won’t contract this deadly disease and bring it back to their home country, a chance, though not a good one.”
Some countries have expressed concerns over the sheer number of condoms requested, fearing that the condoms might not go where they are intended.
“South Africa has certainly made great strides in recent years towards becoming a real country but there are many areas in which they are still far behind, the whole AIDS thing notwithstanding. One area they have still been lagging behind in is importing, and things like latex are relatively rare in the country so this could very well be a ploy to bring more into the country,” continued Phelps. “Still, you have to go with the safest option. A lot of the condoms may be diverted towards latex mills but for the few brave foreigners who tread into the streets of Johannesburg they could be a welcome commodity.”
South African medical officials have also recommended that foreigners not touch anything at all during their visit to the country, just to be safe.
Lauren Hebert, Health Correspondent
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