Cuba To Sell "Expired" Condoms To Relieve Shortage

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Cuba's public health system is hoping to relieve a shortage of condoms on the island by approving the sale of more than a million prophylactics that are apparently past their expiration dates.

According to an April 3rd report Vanguardia, the newspaper of the Communist Party in the central province of Villa Clara, in 2012 the government agency in charge of verifying medical items noticed erroneous expiration dates on "Moments" condoms which had been imported from China, according to CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald.

They ordered that they should be re-packaged with the right dates but the state-run enterprise in charge of the re-packaging did not have enough workers to process the 5,000 condoms per day required just in Villa Clara province, according to the paper.

Vanguardia did not publish the "wrong" dates, but its report hinted that they showed the prophylactics had expired or would soon expire, according to the Herald.

So now pharmacies have to explain to customers that the condoms are good and the expiration dates on the packaging are wrong.

"Due to the irregularities in the re-packaging, which has provoked prolonged absences of the prophylactics throughout the country, the Public Health Ministry authorized the sale of the 'Moments' condoms in their current packages," Vanguardia reported on April 4th.

Several Cuban bloggers jumped on news of the shortage after the April 4th report and critically commented that it could lead to unwanted pregnancies and abortions along with spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

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