MUMBAI: Scientists at the country's premier medical research institute have just concluded an extensive two-year study of the penis sizes of Indian men. In the next few months, they will recommend condom sizes that are right for the Indian population so as to reduce the rate of failure.

The data is still being collated and analysed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), but preliminary findings indicate that condoms available in the market are oversized.

"As per international standards, most condoms are 150 mm to 180 mm in length and 44 to 56 mm in width. But data collected in Mumbai till 2001 showed that 60% of the participants measured 126 to 156 mm in length and 30% between 100 and 125 mm,"said a city researcher, pointing out that there was a difference of at least 5 cm in length.

All the number-crunching is essentially expected to improve the sizing of condoms which have a notorious failure rate of upto 20% in India.

"Studies have shown that failure rate of condoms was 2% in clinical trials, but as high as 18 to 20% when studied among the general population. While improper usage is one of the reasons, there is also condom slippage or tear which is associated with the size of the condom in relation to an erect penis,"according to Dr Chander Puri, director of ICMR's National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health in Parel.

Condoms, latex sheaths devised as a contraceptive tool, have in recent times also emerged as the best safeguard against sexually transmitted diseases, especially the deadly HIV. An ill-fitting condom that slips or ruptures defeats the purpose of wearing one.

This was the genesis of the ambitious research study—'Study on proper length and breadth specification for condoms based on anthropometric measurement'.

Apart from size, the study has correlated penis size with socio-economic status, geographical location and overall dimensions of the male.

The ICMR, which has been coordinating the study, is likely to publish its findings in early 2007.

As part of their two-year survey of penis sizes of Indians, researchers at the Indian Council of Medical Research have surveyed 1,400 men visiting family planning centres in seven hospitals including KEM in Parel, AIIMS in Delhi and PGI, Chandigarh; the length and width of each erect penis was measured twice and a digital photograph taken.

In KEM Hospital, it was the departments of urology and preventive and social medicine which monitored participants. The group was an equal mix of urban and rural folk in the 18-50 age group.

The ICMR had requested Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi to devise ways to measure an erect penis. "We had devised an automated system in which an image of the penis would be taken and the computer would interpret different dimensions,"said professor of biomedical engineering, IIT Kharagpur Sujoy Guha, who headed the project.

However, this was later discarded for a simple paper-tape that was found to be more practical.

While ICMR scientists refused to comment on the findings "as the data is still being analysed", sources admitted that a smaller exploratory study had conclusively showed that the condoms presently available in the market were indeed oversized for Indian men.

The inter-city study drew much interest at the recently-concluded Asia-Pacific Conference of the Society of Sexual Medicine in Mumbai (even as the Germans are about to launch spray-on, fit-for-all-sizes condoms).

An international delegate at the conference pointed out that if the study made geographical distinctions in sizes, it may cause discomfort among men in different regions.

The Indian condom industry too has concerns about the entire exercise, especially since it seeks to establish that a large percentage of condoms in the market are ill-fitting. Most of them insist that condom failure is mostly due to improper use.

"We already adhere to ISO specifications as far as sizes are concerned,"says an official of Hindustan Latex Limited. But aren't tears a common complaint? Tears are mostly related to inferior material, he says. And slippages? "Well, that could be related to size. But we already make condoms in standard and extra-long sizes."

The real concern is that "making condoms of different sizes may not be practical unless there is a large demand."And will there be takers for the smaller-sized condoms? Well, that could be a topic for another psycho-socio study.