Speaking to FMT, Karex Berhad Chief Executive Goh Miah Kiat said he expected the cultural change to come about as a result of campaigns by health authorities to encourage even married couples to practise safe sex.
The World Health Organisation has advised people returning from zika zones to practise safe sex or abstinence for at least six months, regardless of whether or not they are trying to conceive.
The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has advised men who have experienced zika symptoms to wait at least six months after their symptoms first appear before having unprotected sex.
Goh said he did not expect an immediate increase in condom sales because zika had yet to cause a widespread scare in Malaysia.
“Condoms are not like Panadol pills that you take when you have a headache,” he said. “It takes a cultural change to make people to get used to them. People don’t tend to act until someone close to them is affected.
“Zika is not that big in Malaysia yet, but it has the potential to become a bigger problem in the future and the scope for sales will change. Husbands and wives will need to use condoms unless they are willing to abstain from sex.
“But as of now, condoms are still viewed negatively. Those who use them are seen as either going to sex workers or having premarital or extramarital sex.”
Karex is one of the biggest condom makers in Malaysia.
Goh maintains contact with activists engaged in the fight against the sex abuse of children. He said a good programme of sex education would bring about a reduction in cases of such abuse.
In most cases, he said, sexually abused children did not know what was happening to them.
He said sex education was important in dealing with this issue, but he added that it must be done in a controlled way so that information is given to the child in a delicate manner.
“You don’t go and tell a seven year old what sex is and why he should or shouldn’t have sex,” he said. “But children do need to know about their bodies and the difference between a good touch and bad touch.”