Male Latex Condoms and Sexually Transmitted Diseases

In June 2000, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), convened a workshop to evaluate the published evidence establishing the effectiveness of latex male condoms in preventing STDs, including HIV. A summary report from that workshop was completed in July 2001 (http://www.niaid.nih.gov/dmid/stds/condomreport.pdf). This fact sheet is based on the NIH workshop report and additional studies that were not reviewed in that report or were published subsequent to the workshop (see “Condom Effectiveness” for additional references). Most epidemiologic studies comparing rates of STD transmission between condom users and non-users focus on penile-vaginal intercourse.