They’re cheap, easy to make and they not only prevent pregnancy but protect against a range of infections, including the AIDS virus. But men often don’t like to use condoms and women are afraid to ask them to.

So why hasn’t someone figured out how to make one that more people would want to use? The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is putting up $100,000 to try to entice someone to try.

“There are few places on earth where condoms are not recognized or not available,” the foundation, headed by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates, says in a statement.

“The primary drawback from the male perspective is that condoms decrease pleasure as compared to no condom, creating a trade-off that many men find unacceptable, particularly given that the decisions about use must be made just prior to intercourse,” it adds.

“Is it possible to develop a product without this stigma, or better, one that is felt to enhance pleasure?  If so, would such a product lead to substantial benefits for global health, both in terms of reducing the incidence of unplanned pregnancies and in prevention of infection with HIV or other sexually transmitted infections (STIs)?”

The Foundation estimates that 15 billion condoms are made each year, with 750 million users. But the design hasn’t changed much from the day when men used lamb intestines to make them. Now, latex is the preferred material.

“We are looking for a Next Generation Condom that significantly preserves or enhances pleasure, in order to improve uptake and regular use. Additional concepts that might increase uptake include attributes that increase ease-of-use for male and female condoms, for example better packaging or designs that are easier to properly apply,” the Foundation says in an invitation on its Grand Challenges website.

“In addition, attributes that address and overcome cultural barriers are also desired.  Proposals must (i) have a testable hypothesis, (ii) include an associated plan for how the idea would be tested or validated, and (iii) yield interpretable and unambiguous data in Phase I, in order to be considered for Phase II funding.”

That second phase of funding could go up to a million dollars. The Foundation says it will consider applciations for new materials, new shapes or designs, or science-based ways to make condoms more enticing to use.

The Foundation’s Grand Challenges project was set up to kick-start very early-stage endeavors. It’s paid out $450 million to efforts on childhood vaccines, controlling insects that spread disease and other public health challenges.

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By Robert Bazell

Among the infectious horrors facing humanity, malaria stands at or near the top. That’s why the somewhat positive results of a large clinical of a malaria vaccine may seem at first like excellent news. Unfortunately, it is not so simple.

First malaria vaccine works in major trial

The trial of the vaccine called RTS,S/AS01 enrolled 15,460 children in 11 African countries ages 6 to 12 weeks and ages 7 to 17 months. The results reported Tuesday describe the outcome from the first 6,000 children after 14 months. Put simply, after a year, about one-third of the kids who had the vaccine got sick, compared to one half of those given a placebo.

With malaria causing more than three-quarters of a million deaths a year in African children and making 250 million people a year sick -- often with terrible lasting consequences such as liver and kidney damage  --  why not just give the vaccine, even with its limits? After all, in some flu seasons and in some populations, flu vaccine is no more effective, yet the U.S. government pushes hard for all Americans to be immunized against influenza.

The problem with the malaria vaccine is that its limited effectiveness could devour resources better spent on interventions like mosquito netting that provide protection and faster access to care that saves lives and prevents complications from the disease. A malaria vaccine could also create a sense of security among both the affected population and public health officials -- making a terrible situation even worse.  The parasite that causes malaria mutates rapidly –- just like the flu virus -- and the results do not yet predict how long the immunity will last, or how well the vaccine will work in the future.

There will be, with the best of intentions, an enormous push to use the vaccine. Since 1987 the drug company GlaxoSmithKline has spent a fortune developing it and the Gates Foundation and other charities have generously helped fund the trials. Everyone who thinks about the malaria problem wants a vaccine. But a half-effective one is not the answer.

Robert Bazell is NBC's Chief Science and Medical Correspondent.