from www.news.asiaone.com – San Francisco’s Department of Public Health is launching the nation’s first social marketing campaign aimed at educating gay and bisexual men how to use female condoms during anal sex.

It is a departure from the official stance of the federal Food and Drug Administration, which for nearly two decades has declined to promote the use of the female condom in such a manner.

The new campaign will launch on Valentine’s Day Monday, February 14. It coincides with the city’s official roll out of the newly redesigned female condoms, which have been dubbed FC2. Last year the manufacturer of female condoms, the Female Health Company, re-designed it utilizing thinner material made from synthetic nitrile (used for surgical gloves) and improved its design, subsequently increasing sensation.

The condoms are also cheaper and have already been officially introduced by other cities. But San Francisco is the first city to design a social marketing campaign for the FC2 that includes gay men.

“The female condom has been out since the 1990s and we have been offering the old one at City Clinic for some time now. Gay men ask for it more often than women do,” said Jacqueline McCright, the community-based STD services manager at DPH. “It protects against STDs and HIV when having anal sex.”

Usage of the condom, though, is not as widespread as it could be among gay men. Thus local health officials decided to create special posters aimed at educating men who have sex with men how to effectively use them. Scott Metzger, the same artist who drew the cartoons for the city’s Healthy Penis campaign, created the female condom illustrations.

“Because you don’t necessarily know how to use it, we have made special arrangements to have an illustrator draw out how to use it for anal sex,” said McCright.

Last year the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, as part of its roll out of the new female condom, did create a special website to help educate gay men on how to use the product during anal sex. It also included postcards and brochures geared for gay men. While they did not have an advertising component specifically targeted at gay men, officials of the agency hope to create their own posters sometime this year.

The site is called Ringonit.org and the page with the information on how gay men can utilize the female condom is at http://ringonit.org/view.php?id=4. It includes a link to a video on how to use the device for anal sex that health workers in Burkina Faso created.

“Our website has whole sections dedicated to gay men and the use of female condoms for anal sex. Additionally, every time we talk about female condoms we talk about how they are an important option both for women and gay men,” explained Jessica Terlikowski, the Chicago agency’s policy manager who oversaw its Chicago Female Condom Campaign, in an email. “Our training materials and curriculum also reflect this. Unfortunately, we have not yet had the resources to develop any posters, but plan to do so soon and they will include information for gay men.”

If using a female condom during anal sex, there is no need for the “top” or insertive sex partner to also wear a male condom. The biggest issue is getting used to inserting the female condom into the anus of the “bottom” or receptive sex partner.

“You can have your partner help you put it in or do it yourself,” said McCright.

The new posters will be distributed to local businesses, gay bars and sex clubs starting on Monday. The campaign will also appear on Muni buses next week.

At noon Monday in Civic Center Plaza health officials and community leaders will begin handing out lovers’ packs filled with chocolates, mints and female condoms. The free giveaways will also be handed out that day at Powell and Market streets; San Francisco State; Dolores Park; Palou and Third streets; and at Castro and 18th streets.

In total the health department plans to hand out 80,000 of the new female condoms. The campaign is being funded by a $100,000 grant from the MAC AIDS Fund.

Walgreens has also agreed to sell the condoms, which retail for $6.49 each, at a reduced price. Customers of the national drugstore can buy three female condoms for $9.99.