Durex supported Condom Alliance partners with MASH Project Foundation to address the importance of intimate Well-being

by Suman Gupta 

• Durex has been supporting Adolescent, Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) through its flagship “The Birds and Bees Talk Program” in Seven North Eastern States

• Launches ‘Break The Wall’- a specially curated summit on Safe Sex on National Youth Day

• Launches ‘ConSenSuality’, an initiative focused on educating the youth on their rights and responsibilities in India

New Delhi,  January 2022: On the occasion of National Youth Day, Durex supported Condom Alliance has partnered with the MASH Project Foundation to address the importance of sexual health and safe sex with ‘Break The Wall’. This five-day Virtual Summit from 12th-16th January 2022 is specially curated to address the sexual challenges faced by the Indian youth.

The event titled Break The Wall – Sexuality | Revolution | Collaboration in association with Durex ‘The Birds & Bees Talk’ is an innovative platform for building necessary awareness and knowledge on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). Key dignitaries will be sharing their views and insights on ways to encourage the youth in India to initiate conversations about their sexuality and sexual experiences.

Ravi Bhatnagar, Founding member of Condom Alliance and Director, External Affairs and Partnerships- Reckitt SOA, further added, “We have been consistently working towards changing the societal mindset towards sexual and reproductive health and its importance. There is an urgent need to galvanize support and take small yet progressive steps as a society to address the psychological and social barriers that prevent our youth from making the right choice of practicing safe sex. Consensuality is an important step towards bringing these issues into mainstream society. With a mission of empowering 10 million youth this year, Condom Alliance with its initiative ‘ConSenSuality’ aims to remove the mindset barriers while delivering adequate and effective sexual education to Indian youth.”

Durex supported Condom Alliance is a shared value collective of condom market players and other stakeholders to improve the well-being of young people in India. In its short journey as a shared value initiative, the Condom Alliance, is recognised as the leading voice for better sexual and reproductive health for our nation’s youth and has been making consistent efforts to raise awareness and understanding on topics related to sexual health. Last year it released India’s first-ever Condomology report. Condomology stands for Consumer Condom Psychology and aptly describes the context and focus of the report that offers an understanding of the consumer psychology and attitude towards the use of condoms while demystifying the misconceptions and other barriers to use.

At the launch of the summit, Mr. Aashish Beergi, Founder & CEO, MASH Project Foundation, said, “Youth is centric to our work at MASH Project Foundation. We believe that conversations about sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are essential to build awareness amongst the youth.  On this National Youth Day, MASH along with Pursuit of Balance – Nina Kler has launched an initiative, called ‘Break The Wall’ to bring together an ecosystem of like-minded partners to drive an effective change and place India’s youth at the centre of these conversations. The initiative will also mark the start of our project with Condom Alliance to take the conversations to the grassroots through extensive youth engagements and to create safe spaces for them.”

This summit is an important step towards Condom Alliance’s 2022 goal to educate and influence 10 million youth around safe sex and maintaining sexual and reproductive health for all sexualities. In addition, Condom Alliance has launched the ‘ConSenSuality’ initiative, powered by Reckitt, Plan India and ASSOCHAM to educate and empower the Indian youth by keeping them informed about their basic rights and responsibilities.

Mr. Deepak Sood, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM said, “We are excited to be a part of this next chapter of Condom Alliance’s journey towards securing a healthier future for our nation’s youth. Being a young nation is a significant advantage, but we can only harness the power of this unique resource by ensuring the holistic health and wellness of the youth population, including their reproductive and sexual health. ‘ConSenSuality’, launched during this summit, is an important initiative towards empowering our youth to make informed choices for improved sexual health.”

Mohammed Asif, Executive Director, Plan India shared his thoughts on the need for interventions and said, “As a country we continue to battle with high rates of HIV and the risk and economic loss stemming from unintended youth pregnancies and unsafe abortions. There is an urgent need to address this impending crisis of sexual and reproductive health amongst the youth. The first and most critical step would be to initiate conversations around safe sex and sexual health within mainstream society. If we do not talk about it, we cannot expect a large-scale behavioral change in society.”

The Summit will be broken down into 5 days with participation from eminent personalities such as Ms Medha Gandhi, Program Officer – Gates Foundation, Dr Rajat Chabba Director – Innovations Johns Hopkins Program for International Education in Gynaecology and Obstetrics (Jhpiego), Ms Priya Prakash, Founder of HealthSetGo and Forbes 30Under30, Mr Yasar Ahmad – UN Volunteers India, Ms Seema Anand – Influencer & the KamaSutra Expert, Ms Leeza Mangaldas – Influencer & pleasure positive content creator, Ms Swati Jagdish – Influencer & Sex educator, Karishma Swarup – award-winning sexuality educator, Sadam Hanjabam – Founder of Ya_All, Dr Anvita Madan – Psychosexual therapist and Niyatii Shah – Well-known sex educator

About Condom Alliance: The Condom Alliance was established in January of 2019. The alliance has a ratified charter endorsed by India’s condom market leaders such as DKT India, HLL Lifecare Limited, Janani, Population Health Services India (PHSI), PSI India Private Limited, Reckitt Raymond Group, TTK Healthcare Ltd, to name a few, accounting for the majority of condom sales in India. The Condom Alliance is poised to expand its work by engaging with multiple stakeholders to pursue its mission of improving the health and well-being of young people in India. The Alliance aims to achieve this by collaborating with the Government of India, developmental NGOs, donors and the private sector to remove barriers in order to grow the condom market.

In its short journey as a shared value initiative, the Condom Alliance, is recognised as the leading voice for better sexual and reproductive health for our nation’s youth and has been making consistent efforts to raise awareness and understanding on topics related to sexual health. Last year it released India’s first ever Condomology report. Condomology stands for Consumer Condom Psychology and aptly describes the context and focus of the report that offers an understanding of the consumer psychology and attitude towards the use of condoms, while demystifying the misconceptions and other barriers to use.