SOME of the bestselling brands of condoms contain a spermicide that can increase the risk of contracting HIV, the World Health Organisation has warned.

Teenage girls are said to be at particular risk from Nonoxynol-9 (N9), a gel that lowers the body’s resistence to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

Parents’ groups are urging Malcolm Chisholm, the health minister, to recall condoms containing the gel from executive agencies that provide contraceptives to under-16s.

A Department of Health (DoH) report said that research studies found N9 offered no significant protection against STDs.

Women and gay men who frequently use N9-covered condoms and subsequently have unprotected sex with a HIV- positive partner are twice as likely to become infected themselves.

The DoH said it was aware of the evidence of the risk posed by N9 but did not intend to warn the public as the risks were limited and condoms that used the gel were being gradually withdrawn by manufacturers.

Eileen McCloy, of Not With My Child, a pressure group, said: “Either civil servants knew about this and covered it up, in which case it is a scandal with potentially devastating effects on the health of young people, or they didn’t know about it, in which case they’re not up to the job of protecting our health.”

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