Free condoms and massage await Kenyans in London

Free condoms and massage await Kenyans in London

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Updated Saturday, July 14 2012 at 10:58 GMT+3

By Kenfrey Kiberenge in London

Free massage, condoms, e-pills and eye and dental treatment are part of the freebies awaiting Kenyans and other Olympians.

Participants at the games, which kick off in London in a fortnight, will also enjoy preferential transport treatment as they will be chauffeured on dedicated lanes abode sleek BMW 3 and 5 series vehicles.

Life on the fast lane for the Olympians will start at the Heathrow Airport where a temporary terminal will be opened to fast track their entry and departure.

Justice will equally be dispensed as fast for offenders with courts set to sit from the wee hours of the morning to late into the night to adjudicate Olympics-related crimes.

London Olympic Organising Committee (Locog) has announced they will provide free emergency hormonal contraception and condoms to women by postal order during the grandest sporting bonanza.

Just in case kit

The “Just in case” kit has been launched by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service to help avoid unwanted pregnancies during the games, when significant transport disruption is expected in London, which may make it harder to access emergency contraception.

The kit will be obtained by filling in an online form and will be delivered to women’s homes after a telephone consultation with a nurse.

Following reports that London will be “flooded with prostitutes”, Britain’s top health agency has advised visitors to practice safe sex to ensure protection against any sexually transmitted infections.

“We want everyone to enjoy the games safely and by taking practical steps like ensuring good hand hygiene, being up-to-date with routine vaccinations and practicing safe sex, it will help to ensure everyone stays healthy during this worldwide spectacle,” Justin McCracken, chief executive of the Health Protection Agency said.

Locog has announced they will give out a record 150,000 condoms for use during this year’s games to 10,000 athletes who will be in the village for 15 days. Durex, a top-selling condom brand, will also provide free condoms for athletes, along with information about safe sex.

An anonymously authored expose, The Secret Olympics, released early this week claimed the Olympic Village is usually a party-zone where competitors indulge in sex, drinking and drugs.

Written by a former British competitor, the book cites the example of the Sydney 2000 Olympics, where organisers thought that 70,000 condoms would be enough, but were forced to order 20,000 more.

In addition, athletes will be able to get free dental work and eye care at a specially constructed Sh3 billion (£23 million) Polyclinic in the Olympic Park in London’s Stratford area, the venue of the games.

The health facility will run 24 hours and it is estimated that 200 athletes will be treated each day. The centre has been funded by Sh2.2 billion (£17 million) Britain’s’ National Health Service money plus Sh792 million (£6 million) from the Sh1.2 trillion (£9.3 billion) Olympics budget.

Organisers say athletes will receive only immediate and necessary treatment at the Polyclinic, but the dental team expect to treat a wider range of conditions.

“We would complete and finish a root canal for someone who might not be able to get it in their own country. There will be competitors who haven’t had much access to dental care. It is an opportunity for them to get it sorted out,” Wendy Turner, one of the six dentists who will work in the clinic, said.

Besides the physiotherapy sessions, the dentistry and eye-care clinics are predicted to be the busiest, with around 120 eye tests performed a day and free spectacles provided where necessary.

Debbie Jevans, Locog director of sport, said: “Even the most minor ailment can have serious implications upon an elite athlete’s performance. We have worked hard to equip the Polyclinic to respond quickly and provide athletes with the treatment they require on site.”

Hospital staff

The hospital will be staffed by 10 dedicated Locog medical staff, as well as 500 volunteers, including accident-and-emergency doctors and nurses, many of whom have taken unpaid leave to man the clinic during the games. Some 80 specialist doctors will be on call throughout the games that kick off on July 27. As many as 30 physiotherapists will be on shift during the day.

The facility will be for the use of only the 11,500 athletes and their coaches. Members of the public taken ill on the Olympic site will be treated at medical centres within venues and if necessary transferred to NHS hospitals elsewhere. Locog’s chairman, Lord Coe, said: “We have always put athletes’ needs at the heart of the games. When they are preparing for the most important moment in their sporting careers, it’s vital they are in peak condition with all the support they need. We aim to give that medical support to help them deliver their best performance.”

On top of these will be the “games lanes” comprising 50 kilometres of road in central London on which only the Olympic family will be allowed to travel – VIPs, athletes, officials and sponsors.

BMW has reportedly donated 4,000 3 and 5 series cars to be used during the games. Organisers say the games lanes will only be in place on a third of the network.

They will only be in place on the busiest parts of the Olympic Route Network, and where there is at least a dual carriageway to ensure the games lane is alongside a lane for general traffic. Already, Londoners are being told to “watch out for Olympics lanes” with a caveat that motorists using the lanes will be heavily fined up to Sh17,160 (£130).

At the Heathrow airport, a temporary terminal to manage the large number of travellers after the Olympic Games is being opened.

The project has been in the works for the past two years where an employee parking lot has been converted into an additional terminal, which will only be operational for three days, immediately after the Summer Olympics end.

Organisers have also put in place measures to fast track the trials of people accused of offences linked to the Olympics. The courts are being fashioned alongside those that handled cases against last year’s rioting goons in various British towns.

Olympics offences

A key element of the plans will be the categorisation of an “Olympics offence”, based on when and where the alleged offence was committed, and whether the accused or victim is a competitor, spectator or official.

Suspects will be charged within hours, prosecutors will be on call 24 hours a day and courts will hold extended sittings in the evenings and in the early mornings. Use will also be made of the existing practice of having defendants appear via video links.

The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed that courts would be able to sit for extended hours, from 8am to 1.30pm and from 2.30pm to 7.30pm, while some courts will also sit on Saturdays.