Achilles heel condom chastity and fidelity much more effective The Catholic Church is once again criticized for its opposition to condoms.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, recently accused the Church of hypocrisy on this issue in a meeting organized by the country's health minister, Reuters reported March 12.
The agency also reported the response of Cardinal Eugenio de Araujo Sales, retired archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, in which he stated the problems posed by the government's condom program in a newspaper article. The policy of mass distribution of condoms, he wrote, promotes a culture of sexual promiscuity.
A statement issued by the Episcopal Commission on Family and life of Brazil also rejected accusations Silva. The committee stressed the need to educate adolescents on moral good.
Governments in many countries increasingly favor the widespread distribution of condoms in an attempt to reduce teenage pregnancies and the spread of sexual diseases. Earlier this year, in Scotland, condoms were distributed to children aged 13, reported on 16 January the Edinburgh Evening News.
The newspaper reported that the data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act revealed that in 2005 distributed a total of 56,638 free condoms to young people between 13 and 15 years in Edinburgh and surrounding areas.
Simon Dames, a spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland, explained the program, indicating the inconsistency of government policy which prohibits smoking at the age of 18 years, and yet promotes sexual activity by distributing condoms to those who have not yet reached the age of consent, 16, for sex.
In the U.S., a joint statement by Cardinal Edward Egan of New York, and Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas Di Marzio, criticized city officials for distributing condoms Free Valentine's Day, the Associated Press reported on 16 February.
The bishops' statement said that the only way to protect against sexually transmitted diseases is through abstinence before marriage and fidelity after.
Health officials in Washington, DC, also distributed 250,000 condoms before Valentine's Day, reported on 16 February, the Washington Post.
the Church's position justified According to Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, president of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers, abstinence before marriage, as well as fidelity between spouses, is by far the most effective ways to prevent AIDS. The cardinal made the remarks at an AIDS conference in Rome, reported the Associated Press on 20 December.
There is increasing evidence supporting the statements of Cardinal. On 2 March, the Washington Post published a lengthy article examining the experience with AIDS in Botswana.
The newspaper noted that some studies indicated the practice of having sex with multiple partners "as the most powerful force for the spread of a killer disease on a continent vulnerable."
The Washington Post cited a July report AIDS experts in southern Africa and the officials who put "reducing multiple partners and casual" as their first priority to prevent the spread of HIV. The region has 38% of all HIV-infected world.
The article described how Botswana has followed for many years the policy recommended by international experts to promote condoms and distribute antiviral drugs. It has been useless. The rate of HIV infections in the country is among the steepest in the world. About 25% of the population is currently infected.
in Botswana have never been seriously promoted campaigns loyalty, noted the Washington Post, but condoms. It launched a $ 13.5 million to promote condoms in the country, thanks to financial support from the Foundation Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and pharmaceutical company Merck. The amount spent on the promotion of condoms was 25 times that spent on abstinence programs.
"increasing rate of condom use has not led to a decline in HIV rates," concluded the article. "By contrast, both indices have increased at a time, to be both among the highest in Africa."
Behavior Change Medical experts are increasingly recognizing the importance of changing the way people act, rather than programs based on condom distribution.
On March 11, 2006, the British Medical Journal published an article entitled "Risk Compensation: The Achilles' Heel of Innovations in HIV Prevention?" (Risk compensation: the Achilles Heel of Innovations in the Prevention of HIV?).
Written by a team led by Michael Cassell, the article noted that while the pharmaceutical and other measures can help reduce the spread of HIV, can also inhibit change to safer behaviors to reduce risk perception among people.
The condom promotion campaigns, combined with a reduction of perceived risk "may have contributed to increases in non-constant use, which has a protective effect at least as well as to a possible contempt of the risks of having multiple partners , the article commented.
The authors also observed that studies in some Western countries show that the promise of increased access to antiretroviral therapy "has been associated with a significant increase in risk behaviors."
Before this confirmation the need to change sexual behavior, a study has been conducted in Zimbabwe's rural population between 1998 and 2003. An article entitled "Understanding HIV Epidemic Trends in Africa" \u200b\u200b(Understanding HIV Epidemic Trends in Africa), published on February 3, 2006 in the journal Science, reported on the findings of the study.
Authors Richard Hayes and Helen Weiss, wrote that there had been a reduction in HIV due to changes in sexual behavior. The changes involved delaying the onset of sexual activity among adolescents and reducing the number of casual sexual partners.
A related issue debate is the question of promoting abstinence. An article published in February in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence stressed the negative consequences of sexual relationships begin at an early age.
The article, "Adolescent Sexual Debut and Later Delinquency" (Adolescent Sexual Debut and Later Delinquency), Stacy Armour and Dana Haynie, observed that the question of the harmful effects of sex outside of marriage is a controversial point about the debate whether or not to promote abstinence. So far, however, research has been done on the subject. Armour and Haynie
used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health to examine the interconnections between the age of sexual debut and subsequent delinquency problems. The study covered some 12,000 students and the results were controlled for variables such as age, race and family structure.
The findings of the study was the finding that premature initiation of sexual activity increases the risk of crime. Similarly, delaying sexual activity until later "offers a protective effect and reduces the risks of engaging in subsequent delinquency." The positive and negative effects go beyond adolescence and persist into adulthood.
A sustainable solution The importance of a solution based a complete picture of the human person was the subject of a posting by the African bishops to the last World AIDS Day on 1 December.
The document was published by the Catholic Information Service for Africa, on November 21 and signed by the Archbishop of Abuja, Nigeria, Chairman of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar.
"We the Catholic bishops of Africa encourage everyone to consider the deeper causes of the pandemic," he declared. The problem is not just medical or technical, but involves deeper moral issues. Besides the commitment of the Church to provide health care to those patients, the statement noted the need to preach the Gospel message.
"Since the Church's mission is to address the whole person in all dimensions of life, we feel a special responsibility to revitalize the strong moral values \u200b\u200bof our societies," the document added. "This is what will lead to a real and sustainable solution to AIDS in Africa."
By Father John Flynn
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