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Women in the Central-Tongu District have been urged to use the new female condom as it enables them to be in charge of their reproductive health. �The male condom is popular and widely used but we believe the new female condom will soon overtake it,� Dr Winfred Ofosu, Deputy Volta Regional Director of Public Health, said at the launch of the female condom at Adidome in the Volta Region on Thursday. The female condom and male condom are, however, not to be used at the same time during sexual intercourse. It is alleged that some men often punched holes in the male condoms and succeeded in impregnating their partners or infecting them with sexually transmitted diseases. Dr Ofosu said like the male condom, the female condom is pre-lubricated and made of strong soft rubber and works by lining the vagina to create a barrier against pregnancy and germs that caused sexually transmitted infections. He said the condom had a small ring at its base and a larger ring at its opening and encased in a lubricated rubber which is much larger than the male condom. Before the packet is opened it must be squeezed gently between a clean palm and fingers and torn gently from the point of blue arrow at the top right corner. Dr Ofosu said: �The smaller ring at the base of the condom must be squeezed into an eight-shape using the thumb and the fore finger and inserted into the vagina with the larger outer ring placed well over the outer skin of the vagina before the woman guides the penis into the vagina.� After each round of sex the opening of the condom is closed by being twisted and gently pulled out of the vagina to prevent the spillage of semen. A fresh condom must be used during each round of sex. Ms Justine Alornyo, Central Tongu District Director of Health, said: �Women let us take charge of our lives and have the number of children we want at the right time�. Each female condom sells at three pesewas.