Abstinence, condom dispute surfaces at AIDS summit

BANGKOK – The controversy over whether sexual abstinence, favoured by the Bush administration, or condoms are more effective in the fight against AIDS erupted at a major conference on Monday Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni brought the issue, which has set many AIDS activists at odds with Washington, into the open at the global AIDS conference by saying abstinence was the best way to stem the spread of the killer virus.

The remarks by Museveni, whose country is a rare success story in Africa’s war on AIDS, were at odds with health experts who back condoms as a frontline defence against the incurable disease. “I look at condoms as an improvisation, not a solution,” Museveni told delegates on the second day of the 15th International AIDS Conference in Bangkok.Instead, he called for “optimal relationships based on love and trust instead of institutionalised mistrust which is what the condom is all about”.Museveni added fuel to a debate within the AIDS community over the best way to halt the spread of a disease which has killed 20 million people and infected 38 million people more.Uganda’s ‘ABC’ method (Abstinence, Being faithful and Condoms) is a model for the Bush administration’s AIDS policies which are under fire at the conference for advocating sexual abstinence to stem infection.The smaller US delegation, which the United States says reflects a desire to cut costs, at this year’s conference is seen partly as a sign of Washington’s displeasure that its approach appears to have had little influence on the agenda.US Congresswoman Barbara Lee, the only member of Congress to attend the week-long meeting, accused the Bush administration of using ideology, not science, to dictate policy.She said the US AIDS initiative required that one third of all HIV prevention funding go to “abstinence until marriage” programmes.”In an age where five million people are newly infected each year and women and girls too often do not have the choice to abstain, an abstinence until marriage programme is not only irresponsible, it’s really inhumane,” Lee said.”Abstaining from sex is oftentimes not a choice, and therefore their only hope in preventing HIV infection is the use of condoms,” she added.ESSENTIAL COMPONENTUganda, once considered an epicentre of the disease, has used its ABC anti-AIDS campaign for years to fight stigma and force normally taboo subjects into the public arena.Official figures suggest six per cent of Uganda’s 26,5 million people are now infected, down from 30 per cent in the 1980s.But health experts point to countries such as Thailand where a heavily-promoted condom campaign is credited with slashing infection rates among sex workers in the 1990s.”Condoms are effective, but you have to look at different cultures in each country,” said conference co-chair Joep Lange.In Asia – where infection rates are rising among injecting drug users, young people and homosexuals – some NGOs advocate the ‘CNN method’ which stresses condoms, needles and negotiation.Tim Brown, a scientist with the East-West Center, said condoms were an “essential component” of good prevention, but abstinence also had a role to play.”We need to move our prevention programmes back to prevention science and the one thing that is very clear for young people is that the best programmes are those that provide full information, that includes abstinence, STI and condoms,” he said, referring to sexually transmitted infections.- Nampa-Reuters”I look at condoms as an improvisation, not a solution,” Museveni told delegates on the second day of the 15th International AIDS Conference in Bangkok.Instead, he called for “optimal relationships based on love and trust instead of institutionalised mistrust which is what the condom is all about”.Museveni added fuel to a debate within the AIDS community over the best way to halt the spread of a disease which has killed 20 million people and infected 38 million people more.Uganda’s ‘ABC’ method (Abstinence, Being faithful and Condoms) is a model for the Bush administration’s AIDS policies which are under fire at the conference for advocating sexual abstinence to stem infection.The smaller US delegation, which the United States says reflects a desire to cut costs, at this year’s conference is seen partly as a sign of Washington’s displeasure that its approach appears to have had little influence on the agenda.US Congresswoman Barbara Lee, the only member of Congress to attend the week-long meeting, accused the Bush administration of using ideology, not science, to dictate policy.She said the US AIDS initiative required that one third of all HIV prevention funding go to “abstinence until marriage” programmes.”In an age where five million people are newly infected each year and women and girls too often do not have the choice to abstain, an abstinence until marriage programme is not only irresponsible, it’s really inhumane,” Lee said.”Abstaining from sex is oftentimes not a choice, and therefore their only hope in preventing HIV infection is the use of condoms,” she added.ESSENTIAL COMPONENTUganda, once considered an epicentre of the disease, has used its ABC anti-AIDS campaign for years to fight stigma and force normally taboo subjects into the public arena.Official figures suggest six per cent of Uganda’s 26,5 million people are now infected, down from 30 per cent in the 1980s.But health experts point to countries such as Thailand where a heavily-promoted condom campaign is credited with slashing infection rates among sex workers in the 1990s.”Condoms are effective, but you have to look at different cultures in each country,” said conference co-chair Joep Lange.In Asia – where infection rates are rising among injecting drug users, young people and homosexuals – some NGOs advocate the ‘CNN method’ which stresses condoms, needles and negotiation.Tim Brown, a scientist with the East-West Center, said condoms were an “essential component” of good prevention, but abstinence also had a role to play.”We need to move our prevention programmes back to prevention science and the one thing that is very clear for young people is that the best programmes are those that provide full information, that includes abstinence, STI and condoms,” he said, referring to sexually transmitted infections.- Nampa-Reuters