Condoms (Still) Work! : Increasing the Impact of Public / Private Partnerships in Condom Messaging

Condoms (Still) Work! :

Increasing the Impact of Public / Private Partnerships in Condom Messaging    

Background: In recent years, the National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD) and Church & Dwight, the makers of Trojan Condoms, have developed a standing partnership wherein Trojan donates one million condoms over the course of one calendar year. In 2015, the partnership became a ten-year agreement to distribute the one million condoms annually with NCSD selecting state health departments to receive Trojan condoms in the most appropriate quantity.  

Methods: NCSD held a condom video contest in February 2016 in recognition of National Condom Month to engage STD programs in health departments throughout the United States and its territories. NCSD evaluated the videos based on the innovative strategies presented as their plan to distribute 500,000 Trojan condoms.

Results: The videos were rated on four measures including: creativity, entertainment value, level of morbidity, and use of high impact prevention messaging around condoms.  The NCSD staff rated each of the seven submissions and the top three selected health departments received 500,000 Trojan condoms. . The video contest served as a competitive mechanism in engaging health departments with industry partners to improve public health.

Conclusions: Many health departments already receive donations of free condoms, but supplies are always limited and the need is always present. NCSD hopes to bridge this gap by continuing the partnership with Church & Dwight to bring safer-sex supplies to areas that need them most. Health departments are eager for condoms because their consumers are eager to have them, resulting in STD prevention and promotion of safer sexual activities across the country. Authors: Stephen Hicks and LaTwyla Mathias of the National Coalition of STD Directors