Better Living Through Chemistry: The Squirt-On Condom About AIDS

If necessity is the mother of invention, condom-use resistance is giving us the mother of all condom ingenuity: a squirt-it-on condom that "applies" itself as you slide in. No, really! Dr. Michel Bergeron of the Laval Institute in Quebec has invented a polymer gel that squirts out of a tube onto the vaginal or anal opening and gelifies immediately with body heat. "The penis will be surrounded by it as you penetrate," he says. "It's a physical barrier (between the partners), but it moves (with you)." Non-toxic, odorless, tasteless, and transparent, "the invisible condom," as POZ magazine (3/98) calls it, can be flushed away with water after intercourse is finished. Clinical trials are to begin this spring with sex workers who acknowledge that they do not use rubbers. Half will use the gel, and half will continue to use nothing. Bergeron expects reductions in HIV, herpes, and pregnancy among the users. A major advantage will be increased control by the receiving partner, especially useful for women whose men refuse to wear a traditional rubber, most commonly claiming they're too tight. (Talk about delusions of grandeur...) This condom will be "custom-fitted" by himself. We'll let you know if the product gets to market.

- Sandy Bartlett,
Community Information/Education Coordinator
AIDS Services of Austin

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ASA Info Line: 458-AIDS