In­ter­na­tion­al con­dom day is cel­e­brat­ed each year on Feb­ru­ary 13th, to pro­mote the use of con­doms as a means of pre­vent­ing un­want­ed preg­nan­cies and sex­u­al­ly trans­mit­ted in­fec­tions (STIs).

Glob­al stud­ies have shown that one in five young peo­ple have chlamy­dia, but up to 75% will have no symp­toms. With rates of STIs ris­ing, it’s im­por­tant that peo­ple un­der­stand the ben­e­fits of con­doms. Con­doms are a thin rub­ber sheath worn dur­ing sex­u­al in­ter­course as a con­tra­cep­tive or as a pro­tec­tion against these types of in­fec­tions. Con­doms come in dif­fer­ent shapes, sizes, ma­te­ri­als, tex­tures, colours and flavours so you can al­ways find the best one for you. Both male and fe­male con­doms ex­ist and can be made from var­i­ous ma­te­ri­als such as la­tex and polyurethane, these ver­sions pre­vent the trans­mis­sion of STIs and HIV. They have no side ef­fects un­like some oth­er con­tra­cep­tion, if you’re al­ler­gic to la­tex or the lube, there are oth­er ma­te­ri­als avail­able.

Here is some ad­vice to make sure you and your part­ner are us­ing the right con­doms in the safest pos­si­ble way:

1. Avoid nov­el­ty con­doms

2. Read the pack­ag­ing

3. Avoid nat­ur­al con­doms

4. Use lu­bri­cat­ed con­doms

5. Do not use oil-based lu­bri­cant

6. Do not use ex­pired con­doms

7. Avoid con­doms that were not stored cor­rect­ly.

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