An international coalition of organizations that represent Latin American women and Latina women in the United States is demanding increased access to the female condom as an essential strategy to fight HIV.

The 37-member coalition, which includes 28 organizations from 11 Latin American nations and nine U.S. Latina advocacy and service organizations, released a statement that calls on governments and international donors to step up their investment in programs that distribute the female condom and educate women and men on its use.

"The female condom is a critical tool that holds many important advantages for women and their partners. But global distribution of the female condom remains astonishingly low 15 years after it was introduced," said Carmen Valenzuela-Dall, a Guatemalan physician and a senior associate at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Health and Gender Equity, in a press release.

Valenzuela noted that the female condom can play an important role in strengthening HIV prevention at a time when AIDS is increasingly becoming a women's pandemic. Women now account for one third of all people living with HIV and AIDS in Latin America, and U.S. Latina women represent 16% of all new HIV infections, a rate that is four times the rate for non-Latina white women.

"The need for HIV prevention that women can initiate is an issue that transcends borders," said Yolanda Rodriguez-Escobar of Mujeres Unidas Contra el SIDA in San Antonio. "The feminization of the epidemic in our communities demands a woman-centered response."

"Research shows that when women and men have access to the female condom and education on its use, it becomes a product that they demand," Valenzuela added. "The female condom strengthens HIV protection by providing women with a method that they can initiate with their partners. It also alleviates male condom fatigue by providing couples with another family planning option and another way to practice safer sex."

The coalition has praised recent steps by the Brazilian government and the United States Agency for International Development to increase the purchase and distribution of female condoms to women and men in communities heavily impacted by HIV. But Valenzuela notes that HIV prevention programs are still not providing women with adequate education on the female condom. Global distribution of the female condom also remains extremely low relative to the male condom.

In 2007, 27 million female condoms were purchased by HIV prevention programs worldwide, the equivalent of just one female condom per year for every 62 women aged 15 to 49. By comparison, between 6 billion and 9 billion male condoms were purchased.

"Global investment in programs that provide women and men with affordable access to HIV prevention methods has stagnated over the past decade, and federal government funding for U.S. family planning programs has remained flat for several years," Valenzuela said. "Women want to take steps to protect themselves, their partners, and their families, but they cannot do so if they don't have affordable access to male and female condoms."

The coalition has called on national governments and international donors to dramatically increase investments in the purchase, distribution, and programming of female condoms worldwide.

Coalition members are supporters of Prevention Now! -- an international female condom advocacy campaign that was launched at the International AIDS Conference in 2006.

Prevention Now! is a global campaign led by advocates around the world who are working to prevent the spread of HIV, reduce unintended pregnancy, and advance the sexual and reproductive health and rights of all people. Prevention Now! is an initiative of the Center for Health and Gender Equity and is supported by more than 200 organizations in 45 countries. For more information visit www.preventionnow.net.