eC-Card app for young people to collect free condoms

The Sexual Health team at Wiltshire Council is currently rolling out a new eC-Card to schools and community organisations.  This app allows young people aged 13-24 to attend participating venues and collect condoms free of charge.  This is part of the picture of good sexual health, which contributes to good physical and mental health.

 Any young person with a Wiltshire postcode can access the app, they just need to download it and then watch 3 educational videos: How to use a condom, Consent and the law and Sexually transmitted infections and then answer a quiz to ensure safeguarding.

Collecting condoms is just a case of scanning the QR code at a participating venue and then showing this to a member of staff.  All condoms are bought and packed by the sexual health team and then sent to venues for free.  All collections go through the app, and we can then monitor who is giving them out and can replenish stock as needed.

The benefit of this system for young people is that it allows them to collect condoms for free and completely confidentially, updating the more traditional card-based condom distribution schemes for the digital age.  The benefit for the venue is there is minimal admin required and they will be supporting the widening access of free condoms, enabling young people to engage in safe sex whilst helping prevent both unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.

If you are interested in becoming an eC-Card provider, please contact the sexual health team at noworries.nhswiltshire@nhs.net.  We can provide training on sexual health, including information on STI’s, contraception and consent, as well as an overview of how the eC-Card works.