Zimbabwe's Women and AIDS Support Network (WASN) information manager Evince Mugumbate said on Wednesday that her organization will re-launch the female condom in rural Gokwe, about 300 km west of Harare, to promote higher usage of the product in the fight against HIV infections.

Mugumbate told Xinhua in an interview that while the male condom was more popular, the female one would empower women to negotiate for safe sex.

"We are going to be distributing more than 2,000 female condoms. We work with the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council who give us the condoms to distribute. We are re-launching it on Nov. 27 at Gokwe Center. Cultural gate-keepers, the five traditional chiefs in Gokwe, health experts and local government officials will attend the event.

The female condom was launched in 1997 after WASN lobbied Parliament for its introduction, but it has continued to play second fiddle to its male partner.

The first polyurethane female condom called FC1 made a lot of noise during the act, but the problem has been rectified by substituting the polyurethane with nitrile on the FC2 condom, she said.

"It was launched as a result of a research that was done in Gokwe as to whether it is good for women to use it. That's why we want to re-launch it in Gokwe so that we remind especially the women that it's still good for them to use the condom.

"Men actually like it but it's us women who are not empowered enough to initiate the use of the female condom. That's why we are launching it so that we start rigorous campaigns towards its usage, " Mugumbate said.

The launch will take place just four days before the world commemorates World Aids Day on Dec. 1.

It has been noted that in Africa, the vulnerability of women and girls to HIV remains high with 59 percent of all people living with HIV being women.

Of the total number of young people aged between 15 and 24, seven out of 10 are women who are exposed to the risk of new infections, and in some parts of Africa they are up to six times more likely to acquire HIV than their male counterparts.

The Zimbabwe National Aids Strategic Plan (2011-2015) seeks to reduce HIV incidence from 0.85 in 2009 to 0.43 by 2015; and transmission of HIV from mothers to children from 30 percent in 2009 to less than 5 percent by the same year. Endi

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