Improving access to condoms is an important step in the fight against HIV and other STDs, and individuals are more likely to purchase and use condoms if these items are freely available in the store.  But recent surveys by the D.C. group Save Lives:  Free the Condoms Coalition found that in many CVS drugstores, the condoms are kept under lock and key, and are only accessible with employee assistance.  CVS has now promised to make condoms available in its stores through displays and dispensers that allow customers to maintain privacy by serving themselves.  The coalition will continue to push CVS to develop a nation-wide uniform written policy to provide customers with unassisted access to condoms, and to make sure that individual CVS stores maintain sufficient stocks of condoms available through open access.

Save Lives: Free the Condoms Coalition is a non-profit grass roots organization under the auspices of the Student Public Health Association at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services.  In addition to the students, the coalition includes the D.C. Department of Health, the Metropolitan Washington Public Health Association, and D.C. Fights Back, a network of people living with HIV/AIDS.  The coalition fights to improve condom access for everyone. For more information on Save Lives, visit their Web site, http://studentorgs.gwu.edu/phsa/savelives/