Years ago, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, world-renowned for its health and development initiatives, launched a call for proposals seeking the design of the best condom to prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. After a lengthy evaluation process with stringent criteria, in which more than 800 proposals participated, the winner was a condom manufactured in Colombia and sold in the country for several years.
The competition was organized by the Gates Foundation’s Grand Challenges Explorations program, which seeks to promote research in various areas of interest that the organization considers essential to overcoming health and poverty problems. It invited participants to develop what it called the “next generation condom,” seeking a condom that would not generate resistance among people. The prize would be one million dollars for the winner.
In the search for the best condom, the Microsoft founder’s foundation considered that the condom would meet the needs of people who refuse to use it because they find it uncomfortable, cause allergies, and significantly reduce the sexual experience.
812 researchers from around the world entered the competition, with innovative ideas and willingness to address the concerns raised by the Gates Foundation. Ultimately, 23 passed the first round, and each research project received a US$100,000 incentive to adapt its proposal to the foundation’s requirements.
Then came the second phase, which focused not so much on the condom’s material but on its presentation, with packaging that addressed people’s concerns while being useful, practical, and portable. It was here that the Unique condom, created by the Colombian firm Innova Quality, convinced the panel of researchers, earning it the million dollar prize awarded by the Microsoft founder.
For Max Abadi, industrial engineer and founder of Innova Quality, the result was satisfactory. Not only did it provide a solution to the common reasons why many people prefer not to use condoms, but it also prevents allergic reactions.
The secret of this condom is that it’s made of a different material: AT10 resin, ten times thinner than traditional latex and also safer. Furthermore, its card-shaped packaging is more practical, which has led the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to consider Abadi’s development the most appropriate way to promote condom use around the world.
According to the creator, “young people refuse to use traditional condoms because they find them uncomfortable, they cause allergies, they break, and they’re not practical to carry. Our condom solves all these problems.”
The idea is also to help reduce the alarming rates of teenage pregnancy in the country. Only Venezuela and Ecuador are ahead of Colombia in Latin America. Furthermore, according to figures from the Ministry of Health and Profamilia, 40% of the population is sexually active, but despite the fact that awareness of contraceptive methods remains almost universal, only 29% use them frequently.
The Innova Quality condom has been considered a success in the countries where it is sold, including Australia, England, Germany, Canada, Spain, and Brazil. Its innovative packaging earned it the Andina Pack gold medal.
