Health Reporter
ZIMBABWE may soon face severe condom shortages as the US-Iran war spirals , disrupting critical value chains in the process.
A warning of higher condom prices by the world’s top maker has gone viral in China with the hashtag “condom prices rising” garnering more than 60 million views by Thursday on Chinese social media and stoking talk of stockpiling.
The Iran crisis has impacted facets of everyday life for people around the world and many Chinese took to social media platform Weibo – China’s equivalent of X – to bemoan the fact it was now even invading the bedroom.
Karex Bhd, the world’s top producer, has announced a price hike of up to 30% after supply chains were rocked by the Iran war. Shipments have been delayed, and costs are spiraling, with billions of units caught in transit as demand explodes worldwide.
Back home, the shock is immediate and brutal. Zimbabwe needs at least 455 million condoms annually to manage its HIV/AIDS burden, but a funding freeze by the United States Agency for International Development, which once covered 98% of supply, has already triggered shortages and a 30% surge in prices this year.
Now, the squeeze is tightening. Supplies are taking twice as long to arrive, shelves are thinning, and a distant war is rapidly turning into a local crisis, driving up costs, shrinking access, and sending shockwaves through everyday life across Zimbabwe.
