Caracas , Venezuela ( CNN ) Shortages of basic products such as corn , milk and chicken have plagued Venezuela for years , creating long lines at supermarkets and pushing inflation well past the 60 % mark just in the last year alone . More recently , shortages are affecting people in the South American country in a more personal way . Venezuelan consumers complain condoms and birth control pills are nowhere to be found . Shortages that first affected the dining table have now made their way into the bedroom . CNN visited eight pharmacies in Caracas , the Venezuelan capital . Four had no condoms at all and the other four had limited availability . A couple only carried only one domestic brand . Yuraima Bacher , a pharmacy manager , said her establishment does n't get supplies with the frequency they once did . `` Can you believe it ? It 's been two weeks [ since the last shipment ] . Things have been slow since early January , and it 's been the same thing so far this month , '' Bacher said . Venezuelans are turning to Mercado Libre , or Free Market . It 's a website similar to eBay where consumers buy and sell all kinds of products . One subscriber is selling a box of 36 condoms for 4,760 bolivars . That 's a whopping $ 755 U.S. dollars at the official exchange rate . It 's also 85 % of the Venezuelan monthly minimum salary , currently at 5,602 bolivars . President Nicolas Maduro announced in June his government was building a condom factory to supply the domestic market . The factory was built , but pharmacy managers say quality has not been what their customers demand . Production levels are not meeting domestic demand either . Magdymar Leon , a coordinator at the Venezuelan Association for an Alternative Sexual Education , says public health experts worry the scarcity of contraception methods might have long-term consequences . `` What are the implications ? One is that the individual does n't have the means to control a decision to have children or not . That right is lost . On the other hand , the ability to protect oneself from sexually transmitted diseases is also lost , '' Leon said . A 2012 World Bank study shows Venezuela has the fifth-highest teen pregnancy rate out of 21 Latin American countries . The HIV infection rate , at 0.6 % of the general population , is also a serious concern for public health analysts , a risk than can only increase unless Venezuelan authorities take measures to address shortages of contraception methods . Reporter , once detained , now Venezuela 's tourism poster child .
Consumers have struggled for years with shortages of basic food and supplies . The government has been trying to address the problem by increasing subsidies on staple foods like rice, flour, sugar etc