In spite of launching (and sustaining) a concerted effort to control the population explosion in 1952, India hasn't exactly been successful. India's population crossed the 1 billion mark in 1999 and is expected to surpass China by 2040.
One reason is that for some reason condoms don't work well in India, with men in that country experiencing an incredible 15 to 20 per cent failure rate. And men who experience repeated failures don't continue using them.
There is only one size of condom sold throughout most of India, which follows the World Health Organization's recommendation.
Working on the theory that the WHO recommendation wasn't "optimized" for India's population, and on the concept that perhaps all men are not created equal, a study was launched in 2001 to determine if variations in penis size is the reason that so many condoms fail. (Condoms too small are more likely to rupture, those too large will spill.)
This was a high tech study, using digital photographs and sophisticated software (no pun intended). And now, five years later, the early results are in.
The WHO recommended condom size of 150 to 180 mm in length (6 to 7 inches) is too large for the general Indian population. Preliminary data shows that 60% of men in Mumbai (the financial capital) measure 5 to 6.1 inches and another 30% are 4 to 5 inches in length.
While the news organizations and blog posts have concentrated on the obvious (but somewhat humorous) cheap shots (e.g., Times of India: Indian men don't measure up), they are missing the real story.
India has almost six million people with HIV/AIDS, the world's highest caseload. WHO made an ill-conceived, poorly researched recommendation for solving the problem with condoms and the people of India are paying for it.
The really sad point of this story is that the UN has yet another spectacular failure to add to their pathetic record, and the media failing to point it out.
On the other hand, I rather enjoyed this phrase from last night's Saturday Night Live:
Which explains why they're always cranky when I call tech support.
Side Note: The Four Seasons Condoms company in Australia completed a similar study in 1999. They just included a little ruler and a survey in their product and promised two free condoms for participating. When they saw the results, they started offering condoms in three sizes. Low-tech is often the best way to go.
Update: India is closing in on China in another grim statistic: female feticide. With the economic boom in India, wealthy families have access to diagnostic technology and are killing girls either shortly before or, in too many cases, after birth.
The foreign secretary, Mr Shyam Saran, said with the common heritage of democracy, the two countries could really work together to "strengthen" democracy, especially in "countries in transition".He said India had already helped several countries bilaterally in capacity building. "We have assisted in constitution-making by sending our experts," said Mr Saran, adding that nations have expressed interest in India's elaborate electoral framework, including the function of independent election commissions.
Though he did not spell out specific initiatives, he said that India's role could be building up the "nuts and bolts of democracy". ...
He added that the initiatives which may be announced jointly by the US President and the Indian Prime Minister will be "around the world".
On a specific query if this joint initiative would be implemented in Iraq, Mr Saran said that India had already bilaterally offered to help the war-ravaged country in making its new constitution and training election staff.