While Barak Obama believes that giving Africans condoms will solve the AIDS pandemic, evidently even people who have been given them don't believe they will, at least not the thousands of people who were given free condoms originally produced in China:
Tens of thousands of condoms provided free by the District to curb HIV-AIDS have been returned to the health department because of complaints that their paper packaging is easily torn and could render the condoms ineffective.
Demand at two distribution sites in Southeast set up by groups combating AIDS plummeted more than 80 percent after the condoms, in a mustard-yellow and purple wrapper, were introduced this year. More than 2,000 packets a week were scooped up in mid-March, but by late May, only 400 were being given away each week.
Volunteers concerned about why interest had dropped began asking people who had picked up the condoms. They were told about packets ripping in purses or bursting open in pockets. As a result, many recipients said they had little confidence that the condoms would offer protection.
In addition, expiration dates on some of the Chinese-made condoms were illegible.