Condom shortages hit populations in Africa and India

What would happen in the United States  if health departments and drugstores alike ran out of condoms?

Populations in Sunyani, Ghana and Shimla, India are currently dealing with this dilemma.

In Ghana, “most of the drug stores and other pharmacy outlets where condoms were sold started to run out of stock on that same Friday evening and by Saturday night, condoms were hard to come by in these shops”. The demand, though anticipated to be high, far outweighed any anticipation, resulting in a critical shortage.

Health officials in Shimla, located in the Himachal Pradeshregion of northern India, has had an unfulfilled demand for condoms for the past 6 months. There are currently no condoms available for free distribution, and Shimla has begun to borrow supplies from neighboring cities and regions.

Unfortunately, neither article discusses solutions to the shortages these regions are experiencing.

Share your thoughts!: What, if anything, can be done to prevent situations such as this from happening? How can communities ensure that they always have enough supplies to serve their populations, not just in terms of condoms, but any material-dependent service?

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