‘Coronavirus baby boom’ likely due to global condom shortage

A global shortage of condoms is looming, the world’s biggest producer said, after a movement control order (MCO) forced it to shut down production.

Malaysia’s Karex Bhd makes one in every five condoms globally. It has not produced a single condom from its three Malaysian factories in the past 10 days due to the MCO imposed by the government to halt the spread of the Covid-19.

That’s already a shortfall of 100 million condoms, normally marketed internationally by brands such as Durex, supplied to state healthcare systems such as Britain’s NHS or distributed by aid programmes such as the UN Population Fund.

“We are going to see a global shortage of condoms everywhere, which is going to be scary, ” Karex chief executive Goh Miah Kiat told Reuters this week.

“My concern is that for a lot of humanitarian programmes deep down in Africa, the shortage will not just be two weeks or a month. That shortage can run into months.”

Malaysia is South-East Asia’s worst-affected country, with 2,161 infections and 26 deaths. The MCO will remain in place at least until April 14.

The other major condom-producing countries are China, where there were widespread factory shutdowns as well as India and Thailand, which are seeing infections spiking now.

Makers of other critical items like medical gloves have also faced hiccups in their Malaysian operations.

Goh said Karex was in the process of appealing to the government for an exemption to operate under specific conditions. Malaysia is approving other essential goods producers to operate with half of their workforce.

“The good thing is that the demand for condoms is still very strong because like it or not, it’s still an essential to have,” Goh said.

“Given that at this point in time people are probably not planning to have children. It’s not the time, with so much uncertainty.”

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