US abstinence drive hurts AIDS fight - UN official

[sabra]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L29524599.htm

US abstinence drive hurts AIDS fight - UN official

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. government's emphasis on abstinence-only programmes to prevent AIDS is hobbling Africa's battle against the pandemic by downplaying the role of condoms, a senior U.N. official said on Monday.

Stephen Lewis, the U.N. secretary general's special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, said fundamentalist Christian ideology was driving Washington's AIDS assistance programme known as PEPFAR with disastrous results, including condom shortages in Uganda.

The Bush administration favours prevention programmes that focus on abstinence rather than condom use and has more than doubled funding for U.S. abstinence-only programmes over the past five years.

As part of President George W. Bush's global AIDS plan, the U.S. government has already budgeted about $8 million this year for abstinence-only projects in Uganda, human rights groups say.

[phantom power]

1. Didn't they get the memo? The U.S. is no longer a reality based country.

[The Doctor.]

2. Nothing I could have said would have conveyed that better.

To think that over 10 million years of evolutionary instincts will be overridden by ignorance, religious dogma, and wishful thinking is well...

-Guess that answers that.

[VegasWolf]

3. God works in mysterious ways.

:sarcasm:

[DBoon]

5. They don't believe in evolution, remember

If only Eve hadn't listened to that snake, there would be no AIDS.

[TrogL]

4. Well, Duh!

1. What did they expect from abstinence-based programs?

2. What did they expect from the US while in the throes of a right-wing coup.

[TlalocW]

6. Africa should look to Brazil for help

They've had tremendous success with their AIDS program - so much so they told the US to take a flying leap when we offered them funding for anti-AIDS programs because we were insisting it be used on abstinence-only projects.

TlalocW

[WindRavenX]

7. Bush is a fuckin' asshole and is embarrassing America

No shit abstinence only is hurting the fight against AIDS because it's not the reality that most find themselves in...many don't even know how HIV is transmitted. How effective is "just say no"?
Not at all.