World condom Day

 International Condom Day, which is celebrated on February 13, was established by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a US-based non-profit founded in 1987 in response to the AIDS epidemic. The organization celebrates the holiday by handing out free condoms.

Condoms are pretty great, preventing both diseases and unwanted pregnancies. They were first used in 3000 BC. Ancient Egyptians color-coded theirs while the Romans supposedly made them from the muscles of fallen enemies.

No one can agree on what should be considered humanity's greatest invention. The wheel? Antibiotics? The dishwasher? All valid contenders. But today we are looking at another scientific innovation that, although perhaps innocuous, has transformed life on Earth: The condom.

Thanks to these little latex sleeves, humans can have sex without passing on STDs or getting (someone) pregnant. The protection isn't 100% guaranteed ― according to Planned Parenthood in the US, condoms are 98% effective at preventing pregnancy when used perfectly. Since humans are not, in fact, perfect, in reality the contraceptive is about 87% effective ― around 13 of 100 people who use condoms as their only birth control will conceive.

Still! Condoms have saved lives and granted women autonomy in periods of history when getting pregnant out of wedlock threatened them with pariah status, if not worse. Let's dive into the history of happy hats, as the Internet calls them.

Every year on February 13th, International Condom Day seeks to remind the public that condoms prevent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and unwanted pregnancy. It’s also a day to promote the use of condoms to provide protection from HIV.

Despite increased education and testing, sexually transmitted diseases continue to be a huge problem in many parts of the world. According to the latest statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 1 million STDs are acquired every day. Many of these STDs have no symptoms, or the symptoms are mild. Because of this, people unknowingly transmit these diseases to others. When a pregnant woman has an STD, it can result in birth defects or a stillborn baby.

STD Prevention

Another complication of unprotected sex is that it can result in an incurable infection. Some of the sexually transmitted infections that can’t be cured include hepatitis B, herpes simplex virus, human papillomavirus (HPV), and HIV. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is especially dangerous because left untreated, it leads to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Nearly one million people each day around the world die from HIV/AIDS. In some countries, HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death.

By Yvonne Gatwiri Salesio