Condom for your face?

Cambodian woman holds a wrapper from Number One Plus condom (Photo: AFP)

Condom lubricant popular acne cure for Cambodian women

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — A condom lubricant designed for sex workers and gay men has become a popular acne cure among female Cambodians, women in the capital and local media said Thursday.

Number One Plus, a water-based lubricant produced by health organisation Population Services International (PSI), is an excellent cure for acne, 29-year-old vendor Tep Kemyoeurn told AFP.

"After I used it for three days, all of my acne dried up and went away," she said. "Many people believe in it," she added.

Khen Vanny, 29, from Phnom Penh, told AFP that women of all ages have taken to using the lubricant to get rid of spots.

"It is very effective. Some people don't believe in it but people who do really get a good result," she said, adding: "My youngest sister and my aunt use it too."

Another woman told Khmer-language Kampuchea Thmey newspaper that she had used many kinds of medicine to treat acne but none had worked.

"After that my friends, who work at garment factories in Phnom Penh, advised me to apply the lubricant from Number One Plus condoms on my face every night," she told the paper.

"And just within three to four nights, the acne on my face gradually and then totally disappeared," she added.

A vendor near a factory in the coastal city of Sihanoukville told the newspaper that she sold packets of Number One Plus lubricant for 500 riels (12 cents) to many women every day.

The paper urged experts to conduct research about the phenomenon.

PSI were not immediately available for comment on the apparent cosmetic benefits of their product.

Condom Program To Target All Provinces

By Seng Ratana, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
07 May 2008

A new program to expand condom use among sex workers will hit all 24 provinces and municipalities, officials said Tuesday at the official launch of the campaign.

The US and UK are providing $27 million over the next five years to help Population Services International curb the spread of HIV through condom use.

PSI Director Chris Jones said that the goal of the program is to improve the health of vulnerable Cambodians, by reducing HIV infection, and to improve the sexual and reproductive health of women.

The project will seek to make condoms widely available in the country’s brothels, karaoke bars, beer gardens and hotels.

USAID Director Erin Soto said the amount of assistance from the two countries was sizable and would not have been provided unless it was sure to be put to good use.

Social marketing such as that done by PSI works, she said.

Cambodia has about 67,000 people living with HIV or AIDS, though its prevalence has dropped in recent years.

Teng Kunthy, secretary-general of the National AIDS Authority, said condom use was the key to the reduction of the disease.