WASHINGTON, DC — The latex male condom is one of the least expensive and most effective forms of disease and pregnancy control – but it also has some of the most uncharitable things said about it. When the polyurethane female condom came along, both birth control users and experts hoped it would change the way American couples viewed barrier protected intercourse. Alas, as effective as it is, it’s also baggy, cumbersome, not exactly silent — and not exactly inexpensive. Fortunately, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) may be improving things a bit.This week an FDA advisory panel voted 15 – 0 to recommend approval of what is being called the FC2 female condom. Like its predecessor, the newer version of the female condom was developed by the Female Health Company. Unlike its predecessor, the FC2 version will be made from nitrile, making it less costly to produce.

They’ll still be wildly effective, less likely to cause irritation than latex, baggy, cumbersome and not exactly silent — but the next generation of female condoms will also be less expensive.

This cost savings is expected to provide women seeking an alternative to latex condoms or cajoling their partners into using them with added incentive to try the female condom, which has never really caught on in the states, in part due to its cost. Health organizations are anticipated to be more likely to distribute the condoms, as well, thanks to the lower cost.

More than a dozen health care advocates supported the approval of FC2, urging its approval as a critical element in the fight against HIV, as well as other STIs and unplanned pregnancy.

“This will allow women in general to take even more control of their ability to protect themselves,” KaiserNetwork.org quoted University of Cincinnati’s College of Medicine panelist Michael Thomas as assuring.

American Social Health Association vice president Deborah Arrindell agrees, pointing out that “Female condoms are the only woman-controlled method of safer sex and we also know what the birth control pill did for women: it allowed them an unprecedented control over their reproductive status.”

Sales of the female condom within the United States only accounted for 10-percent of the company’s 34.7 million unit sales during 2008, according to Reuters.

Additionally, once FDA approval is received, development organizations such as USAID will be able to distribute the new female condoms outside of the country’s borders. Currently the only non-domestic markets able to make use of the nitrile based female condom are those that do not rely upon FDA approval.