Condoms seem to have almost as many uses as bamboo

Condoms seem to have almost as many uses as bamboo

By Chris W. Green

JAKARTA (JP): The English call them "French Letters"; the
French (it is said) call them "English Letters". The Americans
call them "rubbers", the English word for an eraser (try asking
an American secretary for a rubber!). In Indonesia , they have
many names, including karet (rubber), sarung (sheath) and payung
(umbrella). And of course the euphemists call them anything but
their name: prophylactics, preventives, sheaths. But it as
condoms (kondom in Indonesian) that they are best known.

Although there is a town in southwest France called Condom,
this name appears to have other origins. In fact, condoms are
thought to have been named after Colonel Condom, a British Guards
officer, who in the early 18th century wanted to protect his men
from venereal disease. But in fact their history goes back much
further, to at least 1350 BC when barriers to prevent such
disease were first mentioned. Their use as contraceptives was
first documented in the 16th century.

The first condoms were probably made from animal intestines,
and condoms made from lamb's intestines are still available. But
such materials will not protect from all forms of disease,
particularly HIV. Latex (natural rubber) overcomes this
objection; it has been used for making condoms since the 1930s.
More recently polyurethane condoms have become available,
offering an alternative for the small number of people who
develop an allergy to latex. But latex remains the most popular
material for making condoms.

Although their role in preventing transmission of HIV has
become increasingly serious, inevitably, given their function,
they have been the subject of much ribaldry, most of which cannot
be repeated here. It is said that during the Second World War,
Russia asked assistance from Britain to provide emergency
supplies of condoms, but specified that they should be suitable
for well-endowed Russian men. Churchill, on hearing of this, is
reported to have asked for the largest size to be provided, but
that it should be marked "Small".

Condoms seem to have almost as many uses as bamboo. In India,
officials are reported as saying that every year 450 million
condoms, almost half of the number distributed, are used to plug
radiator leaks in vehicles or are dyed and sold as balloons. The
report did not note if this also referred to used condoms. Armies
around the world provide condoms to slip over the muzzle of
rifles to protect them from entry of sand or other matter in
desert or jungle operations (or so they say!). And they are
reported to have saved at least one life: following a shipwreck
in Eastern Indonesia, one passenger found his toilet kit floating
near him. Being well-prepared, he had a pair of Sutra condoms in
that kit, which he inflated. Using them as "water wings", they
stayed inflated long enough for him to be saved eight hours
later.

Moralists will always find fault with condoms, and sometimes
question their ability to prevent transmission of HIV. Although
latex condoms have been proven over and over again to bar even
the smallest viruses from passing through them, a noted professor
of psychiatry from the University of Indonesia still maintains
that even a ten-inch thick condom would still have pores in it
which would allow transmission of disease. Not only is his
assertion inaccurate -- there are no pores in any good quality
condom, the idea of a half-meter diameter condom has given rise
to much hilarity.

Since condoms also have a role in preventing disease
transmission during oral sex, it is natural that manufacturers
should produce condoms for this purpose, with rather more
pleasant flavors than plain latex. Thus it is possible to obtain
a variety of fruit-flavored and scented condoms, although one
very high up member of the executive here has questioned why
these are always temperate fruits. "Why are there no durian-
flavored condoms?" she was reported to have asked.

Of course, the role played by condoms is really deadly
serious. As a previous minister of health in Indonesia put it,
"In the absence of a cure or a vaccine, condoms are the only
response which public health has to AIDS." If used correctly and
consistently, condoms would stop the sexually-transmitted AIDS
epidemic in its tracks. Given that more than six million people
around the world will die of the disease this year (and over 300
million will acquire sexually transmitted infections), that would
be a huge success for such a lowly device.

-- The writer is an AIDS activist