France to reimburse citizens for condoms in an effort to prevent STDs

Having safe sex could save French residents money. (iStock)

Having safe sex could save some French residents money.

France’s Minister of Health Agnes Buzyn announced Tuesday citizens can be reimbursed for Eden-brand condoms if they have a prescription from a doctor or a midwife, Agence France-Press (AFP) reported.

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These French-made condoms are cheaper than name-brand ones, such as Durex, according to the publication, which added the condoms are “the first to be approved for reimbursement by France's national health authority.”

The measure, which was announced days before World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, is an effort to prevent the spread of HIV, AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, according to AFP.

"Nowadays, we discover some 6,000 new (HIV-positive) cases every year, especially among young people — between 800 and 1,000 new cases among those under 25 — who often use condoms for their first sexual experience but not the following ones," Buzyn told France Inter radio station, according to Euronews.

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Cases of certain STIs — such as chlamydia and gonococcus (a type of bacteria that causes gonorrhea) — tripled in the country between 2012 and 2016, according to AFP.

The policy sends “a strong signal that it [a condom] is not a sex toy but a real and indispensable prevention tool,” the maker of Eden condoms, Majorelle, said in response to the measure, according to AFP.