KEBS imposes 'Hot' condom ban

• KEBS says product has a 100 percent failure rate and thus posed a risk to consumers if left in the market.

The Kenya Bureau of Standards has banned a condom retailing under the brand name 'Hot' on leakage grounds.

The standards body said the product reported a 100 percent failure rate and thus posed a risk to consumers if left in the market.

“The condoms do not comply with the requirements of the Kenyan standards,” said Mr John Wepukulu KEBS quality Assurance and Inspection general manager on Friday.

The regulators asked the distributors to recall the products from the market pending investigations on the conditions that led to its substandard level.

“Clear them from the shelves immediately,” Mr Wepukulu instructed retailers’ countrywide adding KEBS inspectors were facilitating the same.

Mr Wepukulu said the bureau expected to clear all consignments of the products within one week.

Kenya Bureau of Standards vets products using regulations set by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), the international body that sets quality standards for goods and services.

Condoms are a key component of Kenya's HIV and Aids prevention strategy, with at least 160 million distributed in the country annually by the government.

At the same time, the quality and assurance official ordered that no condoms would be allowed in the market without the KEBS Import Standardisation mark.

“KEBS has begun a countrywide exercise to ascertain the quality of all condoms in the country,” he said.

Currently, goods which are subject to mandatory verification before shipment to Kenya include food products, electrical and electronic products, and toys.

However, National Aids and STDs Control Programme head Dr Nicholas Muraguri allayed fears of the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies saying only three per cent of the population used commercial condoms.

“The government and Population Services International distribution stands at 97 per cent leaving the other to the commercial dealers,” said Dr Muraguri.

The director said that with more than 15 brands in the market, only one had proved defective and asked Kenyans not to panic on the quality of the condoms.

According to World Health Organisation standards, six primary laboratory tests are used to assure the quality of latex condoms at the factory: condom dimensions, package integrity, lubricant quantity, leakage, tensile properties and air burst properties.

The bureau said it will embark on profiling importers based on the quality of their products and impose stern measures on those found to be producing low quality goods.

Last week, Zambia Bureau of Standards withdrew 59 cases (1,189) of "Hot" condoms and another 59 cases of "Evolution" from the market and after tests revealed holes in the brands.