INTERNATIONAL CONDOM DAY: 13 FEBRUARY
Condoms extend the triple protection that still works
Johannesburg: 11 February 2026: The AIDS Healthcare Foundation South Africa (AHF) invites communities to celebrate International Condom Day (ICD) with the simple message – “Just Use It!” – and put condoms, one of the most powerful and cost-effective tools in HIV and STI prevention, back in the spotlight.
This year, the day comes with a cautionary reminder for South Africans that we are seeing rising rates of STIs – a pattern repeated across the globe. The surge in STI rates worldwide, particularly syphilis, is not a mystery; it is what happens when global funding diminishes, and condoms are not prioritised for prevention. Without an immediate course correction, HIV will soon follow. Each condom used helps safeguard decades of progress in the global HIV response and avoids far more costly setbacks. Sustaining HIV prevention and reversing rising STIs does not require new scientific innovations; it requires political will, sustained investment, and a renewed commitment to ensuring condoms are free or affordable and widely available to those who need them most.
Condoms remain one of the most powerful and cheapest tools for HIV, STI, and pregnancy prevention. Yet global and local trends show what happens when prevention is deprioritised: rates of STIs and HIV rise, and The World Health Organisation notes that more than 1 million sexually transmitted infections occur every day globally.
Put simply, when prevention is deprioritised, the consequences are immediate: STI rates rise first, and renewed HIV infections soon follow.
According to Martin Matabishi, AHF Africa Bureau Chief. “While HIV and STI burdens remain high across the continent, particularly syphilis and congenital syphilis, Africa is forced to do more with less, making prevention more important than ever.
‘’Condoms are cheap, effective, and proven, yet too often access is limited, or people face stigma for using them. With donor funding shrinking, governments must step up domestic health financing and remove barriers to access to ensure condoms remain freely and widely available. Cutting prevention now will only result in increased infections, higher long-term costs, and preventable loss of life.’’
This is especially true in high-risk settings such as taverns, institutions of higher learning, salons, and taxi ranks, where consistent condom availability and use should be a top priority.
Condom use is failing where risk is highest
The reality is that the South African prevention landscape is under strain, and the consequences are not abstract. The SABSSM VI states that only 31.8% of respondents to the survey aged 15 years and older reported that they had used a condom during their most recent sexual encounter.
A South Africa Demographic and Health Survey (SADHS) indicates that among people reporting multiple sexual partners, inadequate condom use was reported by 58% of women and 65% of men – meaning a large share of higher-risk encounters still happen without protection.
The PrEP warning: a win but not a condom replacement
Biomedical prevention is expanding with the recent introduction of injectable PrEP alongside the daily PrEP pills, both offering clinically proven protection against HIV.
Combination prevention remains critical; thus, the biomedical tools must be supported by consistent condom use, behaviour change and adherence to the biomedical interventions.
A caution for South Africans is that risk compensation can occur when people feel “fully protected”, some stop using condoms, leading to spikes in STIs and unplanned pregnancies spike, even if HIV risk declines.
Plainly speaking:
- PrEP protects against HIV and not STIs.
- PrEP does not prevent pregnancy.
- Prevention only works when people can access it and use it consistently – missed pills, missed injections, and stigma-related disruptions weaken protection.
Condoms provide triple protection: HIV (an added layer of prevention), STIs (routine barrier protection), and pregnancy (immediate prevention when used correctly).
“Condoms = triple protection: HIV, STIs, and pregnancy.”
AHF Celebrating ICD on the ground
AHF South Africa is turning International Condom Day into a nationwide call to action, taking prevention straight to where people live, learn, and move, with activations across taxi ranks, schools, hostels, colleges, and universities. The community activations include music and mob dancing with bold messages, alongside interactive games that make prevention real and practical: question-and-answer challenges, hunting games, condom demonstrations, and activities that tackle the realities of negotiating condom use, STI risk and teenage pregnancy. Student-led engagement will be central, with Student Representative Councils driving debates on condom use, supported by health talks, pledge boards where young people commit to preventing HIV through consistent condom use, and clear messaging on access to free condoms on campus and in student residences. Activations will also include condom distribution and mobile wellness services – ensuring ICD is not just a message, but an accessible, stigma-free prevention experience.
Launched by AIDS Healthcare Foundation in 2009, International Condom Day (13 February) advocates condoms as the world’s best option for preventing HIV, STIs, and unplanned pregnancies — with one simple message: Stop rising HIV and STI infections and “Just Use It!”
About AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF):
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is a global non-profit organization providing cutting-edge medicine and advocacy to over 2.5 million people in 50 countries worldwide in the Americas, Africa, the Asia/Pacific Region, and Europe. We are currently the largest non-profit provider of HIV/AIDS medical care in the world. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare and Instagram: @aidshealthcare
