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Rights. Respect. Responsibility.® International Family Planning Campaign—Encourage the U.S. to Honor Its Funding Commitments
Bush Administration's
Attack on Condom Efficacy
Public health experts and
advocates have expressed serious concern over conservatives'
ongoing attacks
on the efficacy of condoms. Seen as a strategy
to further an abstinence-only-until-marriage agenda, these efforts
clearly
seek to undermine
the public's confidence in condoms' effectiveness in protecting against
HIV and other STIs.
Beginning with the removal of the "Condom Fact Sheet" and "Programs
That Work" from the CDC's Web site, recent efforts by the Bush administration
to disparage condoms have gone global, as supporters of abstinence-only-until-marriage
successfully included a "conscience clause" in the recent global
AIDS bill that would allow organizations to receive funding even if they
refused to discuss condoms as a way to protect against HIV/AIDS. Supporters
of abstinence-only-until-marriage
assert that providing information about condoms gives people false hope since
they are not 100 percent effective.
So what are the facts about condoms? The condom is the only current technology
available to prevent HIV transmission during sexual intercourse with an
infected partner. Studies show that condoms are highly effective—97 percent
or more—in preventing HIV infection when condoms are used consistently
and correctly. Moreover, condoms also provide a high level of protection against
gonorrhea, chlamydia, and trichomoniasis—STIs that are transmitted
when infected semen or other body fluids contact mucosal surfaces. Condoms
also
provide some protection against genital herpes, syphilis, chancroid, and
human papillomavirus (genital warts).
What can I do?
- Learn more about Bush's
attack on condoms by
visiting:
- Learn
more about condom efficacy by visiting:
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