Health department: Government’s MAX condoms guaranteed safe

The South African government has given assurance to South Africans, saying that government-issued condoms are safe to use.

The assurance is jointly backed up by the health department and the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), and comes after there were reports that condoms in Vietnam were recycled and re-sold.

“Condoms cannot and should not be shared, reused or recycled. SA has made great strides in reducing the spread of HIV and Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases, and we will not compromise the health of our nation,” health director-general Dr Sandile Buthelezi said.

Buthelezi said the government, mostly his department, maintained their vigilance and commitment to making sure that there’s availability of quality health products and services to every community.

Buthelezi said his department is involved in the distribution of a billion free condoms each year.

“Every batch of these condoms, which are branded as MAX, is subject to stringent manufacturing and packing requirements and testing is conducted against a South African national standard. South African MAX condoms are of the highest quality and South Africans are encouraged to use these and to dispose of them responsibly,” Buthelezi added.

He mentioned that each pack is filled with individually foiled packed condoms in lubricant.

“The packaging clearly stipulates the batch and lot number, the expiration date and the ‘SABS Approved’ quality mark. South Africans should not use expired condoms, or packages that seem to be damaged or leaking. Each condom can be used only once and should be wrapped in tissue or toilet paper after use and disposed of in a bin,” the statement reads.

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“The SABS tests every batch of MAX condoms in a dedicated, accredited laboratory based in Groenkloof, Pretoria. The condoms issued by the NDoH are subjected to additional testing and sampling criteria to increase the quality controls contained in the national and global standards,” Sholtz said.