Trends in Effectiveness of Safe Sex among Single Women in Three Latin American Countries

Mohamed Ali, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
John Cleland, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Iqbal H. Shah, World Health Organization (WHO)

The HIV pandemic has brought the male condom to prominence as the main method for preventing STIs. Most prevention efforts assume that there is little potential for this method in preventing unintended pregnancies, especially in developing countries. Few family planning programs give priority to promoting the condom among single women. The availability of the calendar data for a number of developing countries participating in the DHS Program, provides a unique opportunity to address empirical issues related to the dynamics of condom use among single women in these settings. Data from Brazil, Colombia, and Peru are used to address whether condom users differ from non-condom users in terms of their socio-economic and demographic characteristics. Additionally, we address the fertility consequences of condom discontinuation and failure. Our paper's findings have major implications for efforts to promote condom use among single women.