«
»

Dangerous Ideas

File this under “not surprising, but still infuriating”:

Pope Benedict XVI said on his way to Africa Tuesday that condoms were not the answer in the continent’s fight against HIV, his first explicit statement on an issue that has divided even clergy working with AIDS patients.

The Pope went on to say, “You can’t resolve it (HIV/AIDS) with the distribution of condoms…On the contrary, it increases the problem.”

The full scale of that alarming statement is better understood in this context:

Africa is the one region in the world where Catholicism enjoys healthy growth.

According to Vatican statistics, the number of African Catholics grew by three percent in 2007 — despite competition from evangelical Protestant denominations and Islam — while populations remained stable elsewhere in the world.

In 2006, baptised Catholics made up 17 percent of the African population, compared with 12 percent in 1978.

In other words, don’t count the Pope’s influence out.

This is not the worst statement from a Catholic leader regarding condoms in Africa. One example from 2007:

The head of the Catholic Church in Mozambique has told the BBC he believes some European-made condoms are infected with HIV deliberately.

Maputo Archbishop Francisco Chimoio claimed some anti-retroviral drugs were also infected “in order to finish quickly the African people”.

In other words, Pope Benedict’s statement is just one part of a long misinformation campaign by the Catholic Church regarding condoms and their ability to prevent the spread of HIV.

Overall this isn’t really new news, of course, except that this latest statement by the Pope is his first on the subject of condoms since assuming the papacy. I doubt anyone was holding out hope that he would break with previous Catholic doctrine on this subject. Nevertheless, this is frightening. Combating HIV/AIDS is an uphill battle, although there have been some successes. But HIV/AIDS organizations already have so many challenges, from worn and underfunded public health infrastructure to the inherent difficulties in changing people’s sexual behavior. When one of the most influential religious leaders in the world comes through with what could only be described as lies (condoms make HIV/AIDS worse?) on the subject, he is perpetuating dangerous ideas that, in the long term, could cost people their lives.

For more information on international HIV prevention strategies that incorporate accurate information about condoms, visit the UK organization Avert.

Share|
This entry was posted by Clayton on March 17, 2009 at 11:06 am and is filed under Health & Science. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
  • BFBF

    Clayton,

    First I like to say that I could careless about the fucking Pope. But from what I understand about the Catholic stance on the issue of premarital contraction of AIDS is that Education, Faith and Abstinence should be the first preventative steps. Condoms are the last resort. Did he say don’t used them at all? I don’t think he did, and I have not seen anything other than quotes from the Vatican on the issue. No one has question the POPE about his statement about condoms increasing the problem, only that he stated it!

    Why do you think he would make a statement like that? Is it without scientific merit?

    This news isn’t new. The Vatican has stated that condoms will not solve the problem since 2003!

    Let’s see what the CDC has to say about the transmission of HIV.

    How is HIV passed from one person to another?
    http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/qa/qa16.htm

    HIV transmission can occur when blood, semen (cum), pre-seminal fluid (pre-cum), vaginal fluid, or breast milk from an infected person enters the body of an uninfected person.

    HIV can enter the body through a vein (e.g., injection drug use), the lining of the anus or rectum, the lining of the vagina and/or cervix, the opening to the penis, the mouth, other mucous membranes (e.g., eyes or inside of the nose), or cuts and sores. Intact, healthy skin is an excellent barrier against HIV and other viruses and bacteria.

    These are the most common ways that HIV is transmitted from one person to another:

    * By having sex (anal, vaginal, or oral) with an HIV-infected person;

    * By sharing needles or injection equipment with an injection drug user who is infected with HIV; or

    * From HIV-infected women to their babies before or during birth, or through breast-feeding after birth.

    Now most people are not educated with these facts The fact is consistent use of a condom with ‘anal and vaginal’ sex does reduce the ‘risk’ of HIV infection!
    But how many people use a condom when it comes to foreplay (oral copulation; fingers in places; or messing around the breast with your mouth)? Let’s keep it real, those are ways to transmit HIV before a condom is even thought of. So passing out condoms without explaining the risk before the condom goes on does not solve the problem, it may increase the problem, because to the majority safe sex is just using a condom.

    Think about it.

    BFBF

  • MP

    BFBF,

    I know you’re a troll, but I can’t help but take the bait on this one.

    First, it doesn’t matter if you or I don’t care about the Pope; if you read the post, you will see that there is a large and growing number of Catholics in subsaharan Africa who do care about the Pope. What he says matters to them and will influence their behaviour.

    Secondly, did you read the article linked to above, about the success story in Uganda? Let me summarize: they use a three-pronged approach:

    1. Delay sex (abstain)
    2. Be faithful to one partner
    3. Use condoms

    When they implemented that program, HIV infection dropped sharply. Recently, faith-based organizations who promote abstinence only have gained more influence, and HIV infection rates have started to rise again. The point: you need to promote all three. Many people do not know their own HIV status or that of their partner. Thus, promoting condom use for every sexually active individual is part of the plan along with abstinence and monogamy.

    Further, you don’t seem to know much about the transmission of HIV; namely, that all of the behaviours that you named are not of equal risk. Overall, the risk of transmission for HIV per encounter is about 0.3% (as compared to Hepatitis C – 3% and Hepatitis B – 30%). Anal sex is the riskiest behaviour (because it is more likely to induce microtears in the mucosa through which the virus can enter), followed by vaginal sex, and then oral sex. The foreplay that you described is extremely low risk. One to note is your mention of contact with a woman’s breast: the virus is shed in breastmilk; thus, if a woman is not lactating, that activity is extremely low risk.

    In any case, as you can see by the relative risks I outlined above, condoms can be effectively used for all of the highest risk behaviours. Thus, transmission can be reduced by their use.

  • http://www.epoxyfloors.info Luca Richards

    Hepatitis could lead to liver cirrhosis if you did not maintain a healthy lifestyle.-:’

  • http://www.adjustabledumbbellshq.com David Harris

    hepatitis can be prevented by avoiding sharing of needles and proper sterilization of cutting tools::;