After a long day's work at a printing office in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo (RoC), André Mikangou* usually buys a bottle of beer at the local petrol station shop and gets some locally produced Ami-3 condoms from the vending machine.
"I slipped my 100 CFA franc (US$0.28) coin into the vending machine and a three-pack of condoms dropped down," said Mikangou, who is in his fifties.
"Many people who have used this very simple service told me about this facility to get hold of condoms immediately. I didn't believe it, but now I can't doubt it any more. I am going to try these condoms that everyone is talking about," he told IRIN/PlusNews before finishing his beer in one go and heading off to catch a taxi.
The vending machine is located in a convenience store at petrol station that is open nearly 24 hours a day in Makélékélé, a densely populated neighbourhood in the south of Brazzaville.
Condom dispensers are now found in most of the RoC's busiest towns, thanks to an initiative by the National AIDS Council (Conseil national de lutte contre le sida - CNLS), in partnership with the UN Population Fund, which has installed around 40 machines across the country to promote condoms.
"The term, 'Ami 3', comes from the fact that because of AIDS, the act of sex no longer involves two parties, but three: me, my partner and the condom, which is becoming unavoidable," said Maurice Ndefi, director of the association to support community health initiatives (Association pour l'appui aux initiatives de santé communautaire - AAISC).
AAISC, which runs Ami 3's marketing programme, set up a condom distribution and sales network in 2007, covering 12 states in the RoC, including Sangha State in the north, where 82% of the people living with HIV are found. The national HIV prevalence rate is estimated at 4.2%.
Last year about seven million male condoms were distributed by various outlets, 300,000 of which were bought from vending machines installed in areas frequented most regularly by young people, particularly dance bars, university campuses, theme parks and hotels. Petrol stations were also targeted, as taxi and bus drivers are one of the sections of society most exposed to infection, according to CNLS.
* Not real name
