World stares at global shortage of condoms due to coronavirus lockdown/File Image
The world is staring at a global shortage of condoms after coronavirus crisis forced lockdown in parts of the the world, a Reuters report has said. The world's biggest producer has also shut down production, the report said.
Malaysia's Karex Bhd makes one in every five condoms globally, the report mentioned, adding that the company has not produced a single condom from its three Malaysian factories for more than a week due to a lockdown to prevent the spread of Coronavirus.
The company was, however, given permission to restart production on Friday, but with only 50 percent of its workforce under a special exemption for critical industries.
“It will take time to jumpstart factories and we will struggle to keep up with demand at half capacity,” Chief Executive Goh Miah Kiat told Reuters.
“We are going to see a global shortage of condoms everywhere, which is going to be scary,” he said. “My concern is that for a lot of humanitarian programs deep down in Africa, the shortage will not just be two weeks or a month. That shortage can run into months.”
