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A new "super condom", that is both anti-HIV and more sexually pleasurable than traditional condoms, will soon be available, scientists claim.
According to scientists from the Texas A&M University Health Science Center, the new contraceptive will be lined with a hydrogel-based product (hydrogel being a water-based gel, generally used in healing cuts), which kills the HIV-virus in the event of a condom breakage.
The condom will also feature an antioxidant to enhance sexual pleasure.
"People say they don’t want to use condoms because it doesn’t have the same sexual pleasure," Mahua Choudhery, head researcher on the project, told the BBC
"The anti-oxidant [in the condom] will enhance neurotransmitters which will work with nerve endings, giving greater sexual pleasure.
"If the HIV virus gets into the product, the condom will block it, prevent it replicating, and prevent entry [from the body]."
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The condom is expected to go on sale next year, with Dr Choudhery saying, "we know that we don’t need FDA approval, and several companies are very interested in working with us."
Dr Choudhery’s team plan to make the new condom affordable, with the team estimating it to cost around $1.
The announcement comes afternewly diagnosed HIV cases in Europe reached a 30-year high of 142,000 in 2015 .
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