As the world marks International Condom Day, attention turns to the vital role condoms play in protecting health and preventing HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Yet across Africa, condom shortages continue to undermine health, fuel stigma, and deepen inequality — particularly for sex workers.
Condoms are more than prevention tools; they are lifelines. For sex workers across the continent, condoms are essential work equipment and serve as a primary barrier against HIV and other STIs. Despite global progress in HIV prevention, access to condoms is not guaranteed. For many sex workers, it remains a daily struggle.
Recognized as one of the most effective and affordable means of preventing HIV and STIs, condoms have long been championed by health systems and advocacy groups as a core strategy in national and global HIV responses. However, when supplies run low or disappear entirely, the consequences are immediate and severe. The risk of HIV and STI transmission increases, the likelihood of unintended pregnancies rises, and both sex workers and their clients become more vulnerable.
Condom shortages disproportionately affect sex workers, who already face structural barriers to accessing them. In some countries, criminalisation of sex work means carrying condoms can be used as “evidence of prostitution,” discouraging sex workers from carrying them at all. Uneven distribution systems further exacerbate the crisis, with rural areas and informal settlements often lacking consistent supplies compared to urban centres. At the same time, shifting donor priorities have created funding gaps, leaving condom procurement under-resourced.
For sex workers, these shortages are not abstract policy failures; they shape daily decision-making, force compromises in safety, and amplify the very vulnerabilities prevention programmes are meant to reduce.
Several underlying factors are driving the shortages. Policy and funding instability has seen global health financing shift toward biomedical interventions such as PrEP and treatment as prevention. While these interventions are vitally important, they are intended to complement — not replace — access to condoms and lubricants. When budgets shrink or priorities shift, condoms are often the first to be deprioritised.
Supply chain failures also play a significant role. Inefficient procurement systems, delayed budget approvals, and logistical breakdowns can interrupt supply long before condoms reach the communities that need them most, particularly in remote or under served areas.
Additionally, stigma embedded in service delivery continues to create barriers. Even where condoms are available, harassment from healthcare workers, moralistic policies, and punitive law enforcement practices turn access to a basic health right into a risk.
The consequences of these shortages are far-reaching. When condoms are unavailable or inaccessible, sex workers lose negotiating power as clients may demand sex without protection. Economic pressures can force dangerous compromises. Communities may see increased transmission of HIV and other STIs not only among sex workers but across broader sexual networks. Hard-won prevention gains risk being reversed, with progress in HIV reduction stagnating or regressing.
Condom shortages are not merely logistical issues; they are public health emergencies with real human costs.
Advocates are calling for systemic transformation to address the crisis. Governments and donors are urged to prioritise condoms in public health budgets and ring-fence funding to ensure consistent procurement and distribution, especially for sex workers and other key populations. There are renewed calls to decriminalise sex work, recognising that criminalisation does not eliminate sex work but instead drives sex workers away from health services, increases violence, and discourages carrying condoms. Supporting community-led distribution is also critical, as sex worker-led organisations are often best positioned to ensure condoms reach those who need them most.
For sex workers, every condom counts. Shortages affect safety, livelihoods, health, and dignity. When condoms are accessible, sex workers gain negotiating power, safer sex becomes more feasible, and community health outcomes improve.
As International Condom Day is observed today and beyond, the message is clear: condom shortages must be confronted head-on. When condoms are available, accessible, and stigma-free, protection becomes power. Protection becomes dignity. Protection becomes justice.
Sex work is work. Condoms are tools. Rights are non-negotiable.
