Nairobi, April 12 -- For more than two decades, the condom on the counter at a local bar, the dispenser on a university bathroom wall, and the packet quietly passed across a clinic counter did not cost what it should have. The United States government was paying. That has now stopped.

Kenya is facing a condom shortage, with hospitals, clinics and drop-in centres running out of stock. The impact is falling hardest on women, young people and sex workers.

In January 2025, President Donald Trump signed a stop-work order freezing all United States foreign assistance. Within weeks, USAid, which had financed Kenya's condom supply for more than two decades, halted procurement and distribution entirely. Three weeks later, International Condom Da...