World AIDS Day

[cookie]

Groups Says Condom Limits Sap AIDS Fight

Tue Nov 30, 8:42 PM ET

Health - AP

By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer

NEW YORK - Criticism of condoms and restrictions on access to them are undercutting the fight against HIV /AIDS in countries ranging from Nigeria to Peru to the United States, Human Rights Watch said in a report Tuesday.


Marking World AIDS Day, the New York-based human rights organization described condoms as the single most effective weapon against sexually transmitted HIV, but said they are subjected to government-backed constraints in numerous countries.

In some places, Human Rights Watch said, police confiscate condoms from AIDS outreach workers and use them as evidence of illegal prostitution or sodomy.

"Governments should be promoting condom use, not treating condoms like contraband," said Jonathan Cohen, a Human Rights Watch researcher. "The clear result of restricting access to condoms will be more lives lost to AIDS."

The U.S. government, although the leading donor to HIV/AIDS-fighting initiatives, was criticized for its support of "abstinence until marriage" HIV-prevention programs that often depict condoms as unreliable and withhold any practical information about their use.

"The Bush Administration is spending millions of dollars on abstinence-only programs that mislead people at risk of HIV/AIDS about the effectiveness of condoms," said Rebecca Schleifer, another Human Rights Watch researcher. "Exporting these programs to countries facing even more serious epidemics will only make the situation worse."...

Tony Jewell, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services , said the U.S. government does fund condom distribution through some of its HIV/AIDS programs, but he defended the philosophy behind other programs which espouse the abstinence-only approach.

"It's a scientific fact that you will not get a sexually transmitted disease if you do not have sex," he said.

Human Rights Watch also criticized religious leaders — including officials at the Vatican — who have publicly linked condoms with promiscuity.

Worldwide, Human Rights Watch said, less than half the people at risk of sexual transmission of HIV had access to condoms, and even fewer had access to basic HIV/AIDS education.

Among the countries examined in the report:

_India. Human Rights Watch said some police officers treat supplying condoms to men who have sex with other men as an act abetting sodomy, which is outlawed in India. It said police also have used condom possession as justification for harassing prostitutes.

_Nigeria. The report said advertisements for condoms have been banned in some cases on grounds that they encourage adultery and premarital sex.

_Peru. Human Rights Watch said the government has decreased funding for HIV/AIDS prevention and increased barriers to condom access.

In other AIDS Day developments:

_The sex industry's role in spreading AIDS was discussed at a conference in Islamabad, Pakistan, attended by about 400 aid workers seeking strategies for fighting the epidemic in the Asia-Pacific region. "Sex work cannot be abolished. We must recognize these sex workers are human beings, too," said Khartini Slamah, a delegate from a Malaysian relief group.

_In China, President Hu Jintao shook hands with AIDS patients in a Beijing hospital, encouraging them to stick with their medical treatment. It was the second year in a row that top Chinese leaders shook hands and had face-to-face exchanges with patients on AIDS Day
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The abstinence-only folks are out of their minds. It's fine to think that humans shouldn't have sex outside of marriage, but the fact is that many humans do---even those whose ideal would be not to. People are complex creatures who screw up. Because people aren't perfect, even the abstinence folks should recognize that condoms need to be discussed and available for those people who make that "wrong" decision. Keeping people ignorant is no way to solve problems.

[bluenoter]

Edit: My link, which worked perfectly well yesterday, isn't working for me today, so I took it down. However, Father Thorne has apparently linked to most or all of the same material--reports on the status of the AIDS epidemic worldwide as of December 2004, originally published by UNAIDS/WHO.

[cookie]

Thanks, Bluenoter.

I'm surprised that this thread captured so little attention. Guess it just wasn't important to people around here.

And just in case you think I'm only interested in the issues surrounding AIDS on this special day of remembrance, you're wrong. It's just that since December 1 *is* World AIDS Day, I'd bring it up today.

Ignorance=Death

[Ron Thorne]

I'm a bit surprised too, Cookie. It captured my attention, but late in the day, after observing a number of ways in which folks connected worldwide in print and other media.



I've been very busy today, so I'm late to respond, unfortunately.

It's a lingering killer and still full of mystery, obviously.



In an effort to do my part, since it's still December 1st where I live, and AIDS/HIV isn't going away anytime soon, here are some additional comments, links and statistics to consider.

According to UNAIDS estimates, there were 37.2 million adults and 2.2 million children living with HIV at the end of 2004, and during the year 4.9 million new people became infected with the virus. Around half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are 25 and are killed by AIDS before they are 35. 95% of the total number of people with HIV/AIDS live in the developing world. But HIV still remains a threat to people of all ages and nationalities.

Women, Girls, HIV and AIDS is the theme of the 2004 World AIDS day. Around the world there are many different ways in which HIV and AIDS affect women .

For yet more detail, click here.

[cookie]

Thanks , Ron. And I appreciate the fact that you were busy, as I'm sure others were. I wasn't so much surprised by lack of response as by the fact that when I made my second post last night, this thread got only 14 hits which means a lot of folks just skipped it altogether.

Oh, well. That's how it goes.

I do appreciate the links you and BN provided. Thanks, but thanks most of all for taking a looksee in the first place!

[patricia]

Considering that the Bush Administration's much-ballyhooed help for treatment of AIDS in Africa is being offered with strings attached, I think that we can look forward to many more thousands of deaths from AIDS in that country. The major string attached is that clinics which also counsel those who seek abortions, or perform abortions are not funded by the U.S.'s compassionate dollars. In Africa, more often than not, clinics which provide basic healthcare for a region provide ALL healthcare, including abortions. So, with one hand the financial help is offered and with the other hand it is whisked away, unless the clinics stop counselling those who seek abortions as well as stop performing abortions. Abstinance is emphasized as a way to avoid AIDS. Those who already have the virus will not get help, if the clinic they go to also deals with abortions. Compassionate conservatism seems to have a less than compassionate reality.