Vote on Ottawa Public Health's new condom designs (they're pretty bad)

One of Ottawa Public Health’s 2018-2019 condom designs. (Via OPH)

UPDATE Ottawa Public Health opened voting for their condom designs and they are… pretty lame.

You can head to sexitsmart.ca to vote on your favourites…

(Original blog below)

Ottawa Public Health is looking for the new wrapper designs of their 2019-2020 condom series, and you can vote on what they’re going to be, starting on Valentine’s Day.

OPH distributed over one million condoms last year, many of them through sexitsmart.ca, a web site where Ottawa residents can order free condoms in the mail. This past fall, visitors were asked to submit ideas for new wrapper designs and sent in over 500 suggestions. To get the creative juices flowing, OPH offered to double their order of condoms from 12 to 24.

Voting begins on Thursday at sexitsmart.ca and the top six designs selected will be announced in March.

Donna Casey, OPH spokesperson, says the Sex It Smart campaign has been successful in reducing transmission of sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies.

“Evidence shows that condom distribution is one of the most cost-effective population-based methods for the prevention of sexually transmitted and blood borne infections,” Casey said in an email.

“STBBIs are infections that are passed from person to person usually through sexual contact such as vaginal, anal and oral sex. Anyone who is sexually active can get a STBBI. More than 50% of people with chlamydia have no symptoms and are unaware they can pass the infection on to their sexual partner(s).”