Over the past twenty years, HIV/AIDS prevention programs have centered on the
large-scale distribution of condoms.1 These have been combined with
“safe sex” propaganda campaigns aimed at convincing the public that putting a
layer of latex between sexual partners can guarantee protection against
infection by the HIV/AIDS virus.
Population Services International (PSI), a USAID-funded group, uses aggressive
and ubiquitous advertising campaigns to flood the media with a pro-condom
message. These “safe sex” campaigns involve, to use PSI’s own martial language,
a constant “barrage of radio spots and films shown on television, in cinema
halls, and on [PSI’s] fleet of mobile film vans” all extolling the perfect
protection afforded by condom usage.2
Over the course of the nineties, USAID shipped approximately 5 billion condoms
abroad.3 Billions of others came from the UN Population Fund, the
UK’s Overseas Development Agency, and other providers. Yet, despite this flood
of condoms into the developing world, the rate of HIV/AIDS infection continued
to grow at startling rates. The number of victims increased one thousand-fold,
from just over 40 thousand in 1990 to over 40 million in 2000. Why is this?
One answer may be suggested by a review of the scientific evidence on condom
effectiveness conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).4
Citing a study by Davis and Weller, NIH postulated that condoms, if consistently
and properly used, provide an 85% reduction in HIV/AIDS transmission risk.5
While no one would deny that this reduction in risk is significant, it is far
from being the perfect protection promised by the “safe sex” propaganda funded
by USAID. Even paved with condoms, the road to promiscuity still leads to death.
The failure of condoms to provide perfect protection against HIV/AIDS is also
suggested by studies of condom use for the prevention of pregnancy.
Approximately 3% of couples who reported using condoms consistently and
correctly (considered “perfect use”) are estimated to experience an unintended
pregnancy during the first year of use.6 If sperm can find their way
around the latex barrier, then so, presumably, can the AIDS virus.
further complicate matters, the presumed protection resulting from using a
condom may lead to behavioral changes that completely negate the protection. For
example, an individual who believes that consistent and correct use of condoms
provides near-absolute protection against HIV/AIDS may engage in recklessly
promiscuous behavior that they would otherwise avoid. Why? Because they have
been led to believe that, by practicing “safe sex,” they are immune from
contracting the disease. In this way, the rate of HIV/AIDS transmission may not
be reduced at all by the “safe sex” message, but actually increase over time.
A recent article in The Lancet, a premier British medical journal,
suggested that a condom-based approach, by creating a false sense of security on
the part of users, had not only failed to stop the spread of AIDS, but had
actually exacerbated the problem. The authors drew a parallel with the seat belt
law, which was projected to dramatically decrease the number of traffic
fatalities. Instead, the number of deaths remained roughly the same, as drivers
took risks they previously would have avoided because they felt safer.7
Perhaps this is one of the reasons why, despite massive shipments of condoms
overseas, the rate of HIV/AIDS infections continues to grow.
Only one African nation has successfully combated the scourge of AIDS. Uganda
owes its success in combating AIDS, most health experts agree, chiefly to
abstinence. "Uganda's outstanding success really has American heads turning,"
said Dr. Milton Amayun, World Vision's HIV/AIDS international program
representative. "Experts in the U.S. are starting to see the value of teaching
people to limit their sexual relationships within the context of marriage."8
Abstinence, not condoms, is the key to stopping the AIDS epidemic in Africa.
There is new evidence suggesting that medical
transmission is responsible for most HIV/AIDS in Africa. See PRI Weekly
Africans Promiscuous Unto Death?” 5:12, 24
Social Marketing and communications for health, 2-sided flyer on “Bringing
Mass Media to Rural Populations through Mobile Video Vans,” November 1994.
Highlights, 6:4, 1989; USAID, Population, Health and Nutrition Projects
Database; note: the volume of USAID condoms shipped overseas is likely
smaller than that of the UN Population Fund, which boasts of being the
largest international supplier of condoms. Also cited in PRI Review,
13:1, January–February 2003, p. 4.
Evidence on Condom Effectiveness for Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD)
Prevention,” National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National
Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, 20 July 2001.
Davis, K.R. and
Weller, S. C., “The Effectiveness of Condoms in Reducing Heterosexual
Transmission of HIV,” Family Planning Perspectives 1999, 31(6):272-279.
“Contraceptive Efficacy,” In Hatcher, R.A., Et al., (Eds.) Contraceptive
Technology, 1998. Chapter 31:779-844, 17th Revised Ed., Ardent Media, New
York, NY. Cited in “Scientific Evidence on Condom Effectiveness for Sexually
Transmitted Disease (STD) Prevention,” p. 10.
John Richens, et
al., “Condoms and seat belts: the parallels and the lessons,” The Lancet,
Vol. 355, 29 January 2000.
Approach to AIDS Proven Effective
Mosher, Steve. “Condoms vs. Abstinence.” Population Research Institutel
Steve W. Mosher is president of the Population Research Institute a non-profit
organization dedicated to debunking the myth that the world is overpopulated.