Even in the best of times a shortage of condoms is a problem but now that everyone is stuck at home and one of the biggest manufacturers in Malaysia has halted production due to the COVID 19 pandemic this problem has become serious.
To help ease the shortage, the Thai Nippon Rubber Industry, one of the biggest condom manufacturers in Thailand has increased production by 27%. The manufacturer makes the condom brands Playboy and One-touch condoms. The company estimates it will sell 1.9 billion condoms this year which is a lot of prevented pregnancies and prevented STI infections and hopefully, that is enough to keep everyone safe and keep the population from exploding in the next 9 months (wink wink).
Last month the UN said that they could only source half of the usual condom supplies needed and that the poorest countries would be hit hardest which would result in a sharp increase in sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies of which many might end up in unsafe abortions.
Most of the Thai Nippon Rubber Industry’s orders come from overseas and the demand for condoms in China has risen sharply. Last year China imported around 50.7 million USD worth of condoms and 443 million USD in rubber latex which is used in condom production. The value of the market is expected to rise up by 18%
Then again last month Ukraine’s president went on TV to tell Ukraine citizens to stay home and use the time at home while under lockdown to have more sex and help boost Ukraine’s shrinking population by having more unprotected sex and “making more babies”.
