Where governments have been the main source of condoms, increasing the role of the private sector can improve access. In China, for example, the government was long the sole supplier of condoms (461). Now, China's Qingdao Latex Factory produces its own retail brand of condoms, Double Butterfly, and has entered into an agreement with the London International Group to produce, market, and sell Durex condoms in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou (325, 443).

Selling condoms through outlets besides pharmacies can increase sales. Such outlets have included general stores, grocery stores, carry-out stores, social clubs, nightclubs, barber shops, bars, hotels, guest houses, kiosks, open-air markets, gasoline (petrol) stations, taxis, and even river boats (244, 275, 317, 399, 423, 496, 516). For more than a decade, organizations in Thailand and Brazil have encouraged motel and hotel owners to put free condoms in their rooms (205, 572).

A good strategy is to locate condom outlets where high-risk people gather (106, 234)—for example, in military installations, school dormitories, resorts and other tourist spots, transportation centers, truck stops, drug treatment clinics, bars, and on the streets, especially in commercial sex districts (155, 520).

Prisons are a breeding ground for the spread of HIV, yet few prisoners have access to condoms. Authorities are torn between the need to limit the spread of HIV/AIDS and fear of appearing to condone sex between men (399, 606).

Making condoms accessible around the clock can help, too (234). Condom vending machines provide anonymity as well as convenience and thus can improve access (95, 97). In Moscow starting in May 1998, a city government project, the Capsule of Love, requires condom vending machines in all late-night places of entertainment, including discos, bars, casinos, and restaurants. About 1,000 vending machines provide condoms (37, 258). In the UK, condoms are available from some 38,000 vending machines located in bars, public houses, and other places where people congregate for leisure (354).

Family planning programs have long used community-based distribution (CBD) to provide condoms to the community, especially to rural areas and in other areas that lack other outlets (41, 265, 333, 421, 461, 593). STI prevention programs also use the CBD approach to reach high-risk groups (605).

Employment-based family planning programs have distributed condoms and other family planning information and supplies, primarily to men, for a number of years (221, 448, 452). Increasingly, owners and managers of businesses are taking an interest in preventing HIV/AIDS and other STIs, which contribute to absenteeism, loss of valued employees, and high health care costs (12, 66).

Condoms are being offered in an increasing variety of workplaces. In the Dominican Republic, for example, an AIDS prevention program distributes condoms to hotel workers (66). Barclay's Bank offices in Zambia offer free condoms to employees, while the Billiton aluminum company in South Africa provides condoms in all bathrooms (348). In Zimbabwe the Commercial Farmer's Union distributes free condoms in farm stores and beer halls and at pay desks (66). Also, in Uganda a nationwide AlDS prevention project of the Federation of Ugandan Employers distributed condoms at the work sites of major employers throughout the country, training employees to promote and distribute condoms to their fellow workers (150, 468).

Many countries provide condoms to members of the military, who can be at high risk of STIs because they are often young, sexually active, far from home, and may feel invulnerable (247, 579). In Ghana, for example, the armed forces and the national police have used a social marketing approach, selling condoms at a low price in barracks, army shops, and canteens (66). In Nicaragua military personnel and police are now required to carry condoms at all times (38). In Uganda the army has distributed condoms not only on military installations but also at nearby places frequented by soldiers (466). South Africa's military now tests new recruits for HIV and distributes condoms to soldiers (607).