France to Make Condoms Free For Men Above 18
France has announced that condoms would be made available for free in pharmacies for 18 to 25-year-olds in a bid to reduce unwanted pregnancies among young people.
In India, we often hesitate to talk about sex and sex education.However, the fact that sex education is as important as anything else to promote safe sex among the youth and prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. Now taking a revolutionary step in the same matter, on 8th December 2022, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that condoms would be made available for free in pharmacies for 18 to 25-year-olds in a bid to reduce unwanted pregnancies among young people. "It's a small revolution for contraception," Macron said during a healthy debate with young people in Fontaine-le-Comte, a suburb in France.
However, In France condoms are already available for free in the national healthcare system if prescribed by a doctor or midwife (specialised Nurses), as a precautionary measure intended to fight the spread of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Earlier this year, the government began offering free birth control for all women under 25, to ensure young women do not stop taking contraception because they cannot afford it. On talking about sexual education overall, Macron said that we are not very good in it and the reality is very, very different from the theory. It's an area where we need to much better educate our teachers.
Moreover, Macron also wore a face mask at the conference, saying he was following "health ministry guidelines", as the government weighs its response to a rise in Covid cases ahead of the holidays, though so far no mask mandates have been reintroduced. If you don’t already know, officials in France are urging people to wear masks in crowded venues and to get Covid vaccine booster shots as winter approaches.
