Accessibility and availability of the Female Condom2: Healthcare provider's perspective.

Background: Despite the acceptability of the Female Condom2 (FC2) as a contraceptive method by some women, it remains inaccessible and unavailable to the majority of women because of affordability, training, distribution and marketing strategies. The FC2 affords women dual protection and the option to negotiate safe sex.

Objective: This paper explores and describes the perspective of the healthcare providers regarding accessibility and availability of the FC2 as a contraceptive method in the Tshwane district.

Method: The study used an explorative, descriptive, and qualitative design. Data were collected from 26 healthcare providers who were purposively selected. In-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted with these healthcare providers in the Tshwane district. Tesch's method of open coding was used for data analysis.

Results: Two main themes emerged, namely, the availability of the FC2 and the knowledge o fthe healthcare providers. The findings of this study indicated that the availability of the FC2 remains a challenge because of factors such as lack of affordability, inefficient procurement and lack of distribution measures. The condoms are also not available at strategic points so as to ensure accessibility. Insufficient knowledge amongst healthcare providers was described as a barrier which affects the quality of training of the service users.

Conclusions: It is evident that the FC2 is not yet available in all healthcare settings, therefore strategies to safeguard accessibility and availability of the FC2 as a contraceptive method are recommended.