Word: latex
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...Malades du SIDA (ANSS), eight months ago. ANSS's first task has been to provide gel lubricants to gay men in Burundi, where in 2004, the government banned NGOs from sending the taboo lubricant there, leaving many men to use unsafe substitutes during sex - Vaseline, for instance, which weakens latex condoms, compromising protection against HIV transmission. Kanuma has arranged to receive shipments of lubricants from NGOs in France, with a monthly supply of 2,000 packets to hand out to about 40 men who have come forward, a small proportion of the roughly 250 gay men in the capital city...
Edison had his lightbulb, Ford had his Model T, and Jan Vinzenz Krause has his spray-on condom. Inspired by the mechanics of a drive-through car wash, the German sexual-health educator designed a custom-fitting male contraceptive using liquid latex and some materials from a hardware store. "I felt a little like MacGyver," he says of building the contraption...
...Hence his idea for a spray-on condom. The prototype, which began testing last year, consists of a hard plastic tube with nozzles that spray liquid latex from all directions, much like the water jets in the tunnel of a car wash. According to Krause, there are numerous advantages to his spray-on condom. "The condom fits 100% perfectly, so the safety is much higher than a standard condom's, and it feels more natural...
...most serious problem with the design - which is what has kept the product off the market thus far - is that the latex takes too long to dry. Liquid latex currently takes two to three minutes to vulcanize, making it impractical. "For people to buy it," Krause says, "it needs to be ready in five to 10 seconds...
...That has kept the spray-on condom on hold indefinitely until a faster-drying latex comes along. Meanwhile, Krause is tackling the size problem by preparing to launch a line of condoms in six sizes, instead of the usual one or two. They should be available in Europe starting in September and in the U.S. possibly as early...