To Philadelphia's proud distinctions- the cheesesteak, the bell, the scrapple breakfast, we add another: the female condom.

Thanks to an energetic and increasingly successful campaign by the city Health Department, Philadelphia has become the female condom capital of America.

"We're closing in on distributing our one-millionth female condom." Said the Health Department's Carole Rodgers, who delivered a paper on her work in the city's Female Condom Initiative at the 12^th World AIDS conference in Switzerland last year.

"Four years ago when we started, people told us ,'this thing is ugly, nobody's going to use it,'" Rogers said. "But a lot of them are coming back and saying, 'You were right, it really works.'"

The female condom is a thin polyurethane sheath inserted into the vagina before intercourse, protecting its wearer from pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

It has captured growing interest among public-health workers who find sermons about protection falling on deaf ears among couples who don't like male condoms.

"A lot of the time, you counsel a woman about having a male partner use a male condom and her wyes glaze over." Rogers said. "She's heard it so many times. But this is something that she can do herself."

The female condom may sound a little weird, but health professionals and community activists say it has distinct advantages over the male version. One is that it can be inserted up to eight hours before sex.

Anthony Marshall, director of Minute by Minute, a community organization that runs addiction-treatment programs, said that he's found the device is catching on.

"The woman can insert this hours before sex if they think they are going to do it, so they can be ready," Marshall said. "With the male condom, it kind of stops the groove if he has to stop and put this thing on."

Kenya Fain, a health educator for BEBASHI (Blacks Educating Blacks About Sexual Issues), said people who use the female properly find it goes well with intercourse.

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The female condom became available in Europe in 1992, and was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1993. There is only one manufacturer, the Chicago-based Female Health Co.

At $10 for a package of three, female condoms are more expensive than male condoms (and like them can only be used once).

Eighty percent of the company's sales are to public agencies, which distribute them for free or at steep discounts.

Three-fifths of the female condoms sold in the world are in developing countries, where officials are using them in the battle against HIV. Female health Co. president Mary Ann Leeper said she has frequently referred officials from Africa and Asia to Roger's Philadelphia program.

"What we've done is we've taken the Philadelphia program, and we've modeled it and prepare materials to be used internationally," Leeper said in a telephone interview. "The foundation for all of this is the Philadelphia program."

What's unique about Philadelphia is that the female condom isn't just available at city health centers. It's aggressively promoted through a network of community-based organizations. Some, like BEBASHI, are primarily health organizations. Others, like Minute by Minute, aren't.

Marshall said his organization does sessions with drug users and prostitutes at homeless shelters and even on some street corners where the sex trade is alive.

"The most gratifying thing is when we see these people who aren't paid as health professionals but who want to do this because they want to help save people's lives," Rogers said. "Those people often have a lot more credibility."

Women on medical assistance can get prescriptions for female condoms. Many get them free through city-funded programs, or use discount coupons that come with the city-sponsored distributions.

The city spends about $100,000 a year on female condoms.

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