Condoms In M'sia Safe For Use - Chua

KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 (Bernama) -- Condoms sold in Malaysia are safe but the Health Ministry will enforce stringent checks on their quality soon to ensure that defective condoms are not sold to consumers.

Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said Monday the ministry, through its Engineering Department, would use the Medical Devices Act 2006, which is in its final stage of enactment, to monitor condom quality.

"Malaysian condoms are of good quality and we have not received any complaints so far," he told Bernama after opening the 26th Asian Medical Students' Conference here.

Dr Chua was asked to comment on whether the government would monitor the quality of condoms following a recent report that in Hong Kong more than one in 10 condoms sold was likely to leak or burst.

Last week, a Hong Kong Consumer Council survey revealed that 28 popular brands of condoms failed laboratory pressure tests and they included popular brands like Infinity, Strawberry Flavour, Wedding and Wonder Life Fruit Flavour.

Some 15 million condoms are sold annually with a market value of nearly RM17 million, said an industry source.

Condoms, mostly latex made, are either produced locally or imported and there are about 10 leading manufacturers in the country.

Dr Mohamed Ismail Mohd Tambi, an advisor with the Condom Evaluation Technical Committee under the Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (Sirim), said quality was vital as more people use condoms to prevent sexual diseases.

"Quality is important because more people are using condoms to prevent sexually transmitted diseases like HIV rather than to prevent pregnancy, especially in the developing world.

"It is sad if end-users use condom and yet get infection. More clinical tests need to be done to ensure that there is less slippage and breakage," he added.

-- BERNAMA