Nigeria’s quest to improve the health and welfare of millions of its citizens through the use of condoms is hampered by funds paucity.

The strategy is expected to guide Nigeria to give the product the desired attention it deserves.

Officials said the National Condom Strategy is ready and ready for national use, but unavailability of funds is a major challenge to massively printing copies.

A top official at the Ministry of Health, Greg Izuwa, said at a female condemn advocacy project meeting held in Abuja, noted that the draft policy was ready but awaiting printing and production.

“Funding support from partners is drying up. The online way out is to keep reaching out to our development partners to ensure that the dream of procuring female condoms is not dead.”

Izuwa said stakeholders had been trained across the country in preparation for the implementation of the strategy.

“Government is committed to promoting female condom use.”

Meanwhile, stakeholders have pointed out that though many Nigerians were willing to use female condoms, accessibility and affordability were still issues.

Female condoms were described as safe and reliable of used correctly.

Speaking on behalf of the Association for Reproductive and Family Health, Titi Abolade, stressed the need to continue to drive advocacy efforts to bring to the front burner of discussions, the need to scale-up female condom programming in Nigeria.

“The purpose of the meeting is to share individual female condom advocacy experiences, plan joint advocacy activities and make recommendations into the next Female Condom Advocacy project phase,” she noted.

She added: “Female condoms are the method women can initiative themselves for protection against both unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Studies show that women as well as men become enthusiastic about them after trying them out. They can even increase sexual pleasure. The time for female condoms is now.”