The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Rwanda celebrated the International Condom Day (ICD) Under the theme– “Just Use It!”.
This year’s ICD celebration was held on February 13, in Bugesera District.
The event comprised of entertainment and education with free condom distribution, reinforcing the message that protecting sexual health should be accessible, stigma-free, and empowering for everyone.
According to the organizers, the surge in STI rates worldwide, particularly syphilis, is not a mystery—it is what happens when global funding diminishes and condoms are not prioritized 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.
Experts explain that 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.
To address this, AHF Rwanda ICD event included sharing messages on correct condom use, offering HIV testing and distribution, and brought in entertainment to engage the community
“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,” said Martin Matabishi, AHF Africa Bureau Chief.
“Condoms are cheap, effective, and proven, yet too often people can’t get them or face stigma for using them. With donor funding shrinking, governments must step up domestic health financing and remove barriers to access, which helps ensure condoms are free and widely available. Cutting prevention now only leads to more infections, higher costs, and lives lost later.”
Launched by AIDS Healthcare Foundation in 2009, International Condom Day (Feb. 13) celebrates condoms as the world’s best option for preventing HIV, other STIs, and unplanned pregnancies. ICD reminds that condoms are safer, sexy, and must be kept at the center of protecting sexual health worldwide.
