ADVOCATES FOR YOUTH

Advocates for Youth Questions PACHA Appointments

Concerned Council Will Put Ideology Over Science and Research

WASHINGTON, DC (January 24, 2002) Advocates for Youth today questions many of the selections for the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS (PACHA). Just over a month after naming abstinence-only-until-marriage advocate Patricia Funderburk Ware as Director of PACHA, the Bush administration has selected Tom Coburn and Joe McIlhaney, two more vocal supporters of the same ineffective and unproven sex and HIV education program, leaving little doubt as to the recommendations that the White House and other federal agencies will receive from this group.

Ms. Ware, Mr. Coburn, and Mr. McIlhaney are longtime proponents of abstinence-only-until-marriage education—education that censors information about condoms as a way to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.

" When nearly half of all new HIV infections occur in those under the age of 25, the appointments to the advisory council on AIDS sends an alarming signal. It is unforgivable to promote ignorance in the era of AIDS. This is nothing more than politics and ideology masquerading as public health," said James Wagoner, President of Advocates for Youth. "America's youth deserve science-based prevention strategies to stem this pandemic."

Last year, the Institute of Medicine released a major report on HIV/AIDS prevention that called for the elimination of abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. To appoint a strong majority in favor of an abstinence-only approach defies the research and basic common sense.

Organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control, American Medical Association, and the Institute of Medicine support comprehensive sexuality education—education that provides information about both abstinence and contraception as prevention tools. This is the most effective AIDS education for young people because it causes them to delay sexual activity and to use protection correctly and consistently when they do become sexually active.

" American teens deserve complete medically accurate, realistic information about sex. Anything less is irresponsible and dangerous," concluded Wagoner.

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Note to Editors and Producers: For more information or to set up an interview with adolescent sexuality experts, please contact Bill Barker at (202) 419-3420.

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