Cuba moves to end condom shortage by selling stock with ‘wrong expiration dates’

Posted on Sunday, 04.20.14



Cuba moves to end condom shortage by selling stock with 'wrong

expiration dates'

BY JUAN O. TAMAYO

JTAMAYO@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM



Hoping to resolve a shortage of condoms that has sparked complaints

around Cuba, the island's public health system has approved the sale of

more than one million prophylactics with apparently expired dates.



Pharmacy sales personnel must explain to the buyers that the condoms are

good and simply have the wrong expiration dates, said a report Saturday

in Vanguardia, the newspaper of the Communist Party in the central

province of Villa Clara.



A Vanguardia report April 3 on the shortage said that the government

agency in charge of certifying medical items in 2012 had noticed

erroneous expiration dates on the "Moments" prophylactics imported from

China.



The agency ordered the condoms be repackaged with the correct dates, the

newspaper added. But the state-run enterprise repackaging the more than

one million condoms in stock does not have enough workers to process the

5,000 condoms a day required just in Villa Clara province.



Vanguardia did not publish the "wrong" dates, but its report hinted that

they showed the prophylactics had expired or would soon expire. The

shelf life of condoms is very long, it said.



"Although the lots are in optimal conditions, under the certificate of

the Center for the State Control of Medicines and Medical Equipment the

condoms could not be sold without the new expiration date, December of

2014," Vanguardia reported Saturday.



"Due to the irregularities in the repackaging, which has provoked

prolonged absences of the prophylactics throughout the country, the

Public Health Ministry authorized the sale of the 'Moments' condoms in

their current packages," on April 4, the newspaper said.



Several Cuban bloggers commented acridly on the shortage long after

April 4, with some noting that it could lead to the spread of sexually

transmitted diseases as well as unwanted pregnancies and abortions. The

story was picked up in el Nuevo Herald and The Guardian in London.



The Cuban government, meanwhile, also published a list of companies

around the world that are authorized to ship packages to the island, a

business hit routinely with complaints of lost packages, high prices and

outright fraud.



The list "will allow those who send these types of shipments from abroad

to confirm that the agency they plan to use is among those authorized to

carry out those operations with Cuba," said a report in the

government-controlled Cubadebate website.



The U.S. companies listed: Wilson Intl.; Service Inc.; Machi Community

Services; Va Cuba; Caribe Express; Vía Cuba; Flor Caribe Inc.; Caribbean

Family and Travel Services Inc.; Aztec Worldwide Airlines Inc.;

Procurements Systems Inc.; Crowley Logistics Inc.; Frontline Cargo

Logistic; International Port Corp; Ez Shipping LLC; Centrotrading LLC;

and V.I.P INTL INC.



The list, compiled by Cuba's customs agency, also included Cugranca, a

Spanish firm approved to provide delivery and currency exchange services

for people in the United States.



Source: Cuba moves to end condom shortage by selling stock with 'wrong

expiration dates' - Cuba - MiamiHerald.com -

http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/04/20/4070346/cuba-moves-to-end-condom-shortage.html