Hundreds of Organizations to Call on CVS to Stop Practice of Locking Condoms, Adopt National Policy

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A national coalition of hundreds of community organizations, health care educators and advocates are expected to announce on Thursday June 11, 2009 that they are uniting in an effort to stop CVS Caremark Corp. from locking condoms in its drugstores nationwide. Together, the Cure CVS: Unlock the Condoms Initiative is asking CVS to adopt a corporate policy to keep all condoms unlocked at all times. CVS’s closest competitor Walgreen’s has a policy against locking up condoms in any of its stores.

“we urge CVS to put the health of our communities first and adopt a written policy that ensures all condoms are permanently unlocked in all communities across the country, regardless of race.”

Members of the Cure CVS: Unlock the Condoms Initiative are expected to rally outside a CVS store on Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. and hold a press conference to discuss the results of a probe of thousands of CVS stores in more than 20 U.S. markets, surveyed for the presence of locked condoms. The survey results suggest CVS is locking condoms in communities that are disproportionately at risk for HIV/AIDS.

Advocates will unveil a joint letter to CVS Caremark Corp. CEO Tom Ryan that states “we urge CVS to put the health of our communities first and adopt a written policy that ensures all condoms are permanently unlocked in all communities across the country, regardless of race.”

WHAT:		Rally and press conference
WHO:		National Organization of Women (NOW); Advocates for Youth; ACT UP; Latino Commission on AIDS; Black Women for Wellness; Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP); more.
WHEN:		12:30 PM EDT Thursday, June 11, 2009
WHERE:		CVS/pharmacy
		6 Dupont Circle
		Washington, D.C.

Cure CVS is an initiative by Change to Win and partner organizations to reform the drugstore industry, starting with CVS, the country’s leading provider of prescription drugs and largest drugstore chain. By joining concerned citizen groups with the six million members of Change to Win unions, Cure CVS aims to ensure that CVS provides equal access across all communities and income levels to its stores and services, offers fair and accurate prices, provides quality products and services, protects customers’ privacy and puts quality pharmacy care first.