Who are we?

The Save Lives: Free the Condoms Coalition is a grassroots community partnership working to reduce health disparities in the District of Columbia. The Coalition's goal is to increase condom accessibility in the Washington, DC area by removing potential barriers to condom access. The Coalition is working under the auspices of the Public Health Student Association at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Sciences.

What we know:

• DC has the highest HIV/AIDS transmission rates in the nation.
• Condoms are a proven method of preventing HIV/AIDS transmission.
• Easy access to condom remains the major barrier to condom use.
• CVS pharmacies in DC lock condom display Have we confirmed they are still locking condoms?
• CVS only locks condoms in wards with primarily African-American residents that have the highest HIV/AIDS rates in the city as supported by the GIS maps, which can be found at:

http://www.gwumc.edu/sphhs/communityactivities/savelives.cfm

Future Initiatives

The coalition consists of three main components: (1) corporate advocacy, (2) coalition building, and (3) media advocacy. Collaborative efforts of all components aim to influence CVS Corporation in establishing a national written policy to unlock condoms in all stores nationwide.

Contacts

Please direct your questions and/or comments to s_lives@hotmail.com