(from the planned parenhood website)
Abstinence-Only in Africa: A Misguided Approach to HIV Prevention
by Jon Platner
Comprehensive, medically accurate sex education programs that teach about both abstinence and contraception are proven to work, and are endorsed by the most reputable medical institutions in the country. Yet despite these facts, some people still promote the alternative, abstinence-only education programs, which are not allowed to teach about birth control methods unless it is to stress their failure rates.
These abstinence-only messages are being taught in schools across the country, funded through hundreds of millions of dollars set aside by the current administration and Congress. And if conservative politicians have their way, that same message will be exported to countries outside of the U.S. where people are desperate to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Most people reacted with enthusiasm last May when President Bush signed the Global AIDS bill into law. It seemed promising that the U.S. government had begun to take serious steps to combat the growing crisis of HIV/AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean. But for many people, that enthusiasm was short-lived.
News soon spread that as part of the legislation, a significant amount of money would be set aside specifically for abstinence-only education. Abstinence-only programs, which openly stigmatize and question the effectiveness of condoms, will receive one-third of the $15 billion that the U.S. government intends to spend over the next five years to fight HIV/AIDS abroad.
Much of the support for bringing abstinence-only education to Africa stems from a flawed analysis of Uganda's success in stopping the spread of HIV between the late 1980s and mid-1990s. Uganda employed what's been labeled an "ABC" approach to preventing HIV infections ? "A" for abstain, "B" for be faithful, and "C" for use condoms.
Essentially, the program used a combination of messages about abstinence, monogamy, and condom use to halt the spread of HIV, and the numbers suggest that it worked. At a time when most countries in the region experienced a dramatic rise in HIV infections, Uganda's HIV prevalence actually fell ? from a peak of about 15 percent of its population in 1991 to five percent in 2001.
Social conservatives in the U.S. have suggested that the "A" and "B" components of the program alone contributed to these positive results, ignoring the effect of increased condom use. Many even go so far as to imply that the promotion of condom use has actually increased HIV rates in Africa by encouraging young people to be more promiscuous. But these assertions are not supported by any facts.
Nearly all public health experts agree that a combination of behavioral changes in A, B, and C all contributed to Uganda's success in reducing HIV rates. And an analysis released by the Alan Guttmacher Institute in November 2003, A, B, and C in Uganda: The Roles of Abstinence, Monogamy, and Condom Use in HIV Decline, supports this general consensus. Specifically, the study found that between 1988 and 1995
- Fewer Ugandans were having sex at young ages.
- Levels of monogamy increased.
- Condom use rose steeply among unmarried sexually active women and men.
The report concluded: "Progress on the three components of the ABC approach contributed to bringing about and sustaining reduced exposure to HIV in Uganda.? Development funds to combat HIV should focus on policies and programs designed to target all three prongs ? 'A,' 'B,' and 'C.'"
Even stronger evidence has emerged since the Uganda experience to suggest that an abstinence-only approach to HIV prevention is a dangerous one. A study published in AIDS in 2001, "Why Do Young Women Have a Much Higher Prevalence of HIV Than Young Men? A Study in Kisumu, Kenya, and Ndola, Zambia," found that in the regions studied, the risk of HIV was actually greater in those who were married compared with those who were unmarried, particularly for women younger than 25.
These findings confirm more than ever that an abstinence-only message for unmarried people is not sufficient to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. Young women and men need access to comprehensive, medically accurate sex education that can save their lives. Sadly, Congress and the administration seem committed to continuing down the opposite path, both at home and abroad.
Abstinence-Only in Africa: A Misguided Approach to HIV Prevention
by Jon Platner
Comprehensive, medically accurate sex education programs that teach about both abstinence and contraception are proven to work, and are endorsed by the most reputable medical institutions in the country. Yet despite these facts, some people still promote the alternative, abstinence-only education programs, which are not allowed to teach about birth control methods unless it is to stress their failure rates.
These abstinence-only messages are being taught in schools across the country, funded through hundreds of millions of dollars set aside by the current administration and Congress. And if conservative politicians have their way, that same message will be exported to countries outside of the U.S. where people are desperate to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Most people reacted with enthusiasm last May when President Bush signed the Global AIDS bill into law. It seemed promising that the U.S. government had begun to take serious steps to combat the growing crisis of HIV/AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean. But for many people, that enthusiasm was short-lived.
News soon spread that as part of the legislation, a significant amount of money would be set aside specifically for abstinence-only education. Abstinence-only programs, which openly stigmatize and question the effectiveness of condoms, will receive one-third of the $15 billion that the U.S. government intends to spend over the next five years to fight HIV/AIDS abroad.
Much of the support for bringing abstinence-only education to Africa stems from a flawed analysis of Uganda's success in stopping the spread of HIV between the late 1980s and mid-1990s. Uganda employed what's been labeled an "ABC" approach to preventing HIV infections ? "A" for abstain, "B" for be faithful, and "C" for use condoms.
Essentially, the program used a combination of messages about abstinence, monogamy, and condom use to halt the spread of HIV, and the numbers suggest that it worked. At a time when most countries in the region experienced a dramatic rise in HIV infections, Uganda's HIV prevalence actually fell ? from a peak of about 15 percent of its population in 1991 to five percent in 2001.
Social conservatives in the U.S. have suggested that the "A" and "B" components of the program alone contributed to these positive results, ignoring the effect of increased condom use. Many even go so far as to imply that the promotion of condom use has actually increased HIV rates in Africa by encouraging young people to be more promiscuous. But these assertions are not supported by any facts.
Nearly all public health experts agree that a combination of behavioral changes in A, B, and C all contributed to Uganda's success in reducing HIV rates. And an analysis released by the Alan Guttmacher Institute in November 2003, A, B, and C in Uganda: The Roles of Abstinence, Monogamy, and Condom Use in HIV Decline, supports this general consensus. Specifically, the study found that between 1988 and 1995
- Fewer Ugandans were having sex at young ages.
- Levels of monogamy increased.
- Condom use rose steeply among unmarried sexually active women and men.
The report concluded: "Progress on the three components of the ABC approach contributed to bringing about and sustaining reduced exposure to HIV in Uganda.? Development funds to combat HIV should focus on policies and programs designed to target all three prongs ? 'A,' 'B,' and 'C.'"
Even stronger evidence has emerged since the Uganda experience to suggest that an abstinence-only approach to HIV prevention is a dangerous one. A study published in AIDS in 2001, "Why Do Young Women Have a Much Higher Prevalence of HIV Than Young Men? A Study in Kisumu, Kenya, and Ndola, Zambia," found that in the regions studied, the risk of HIV was actually greater in those who were married compared with those who were unmarried, particularly for women younger than 25.
These findings confirm more than ever that an abstinence-only message for unmarried people is not sufficient to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. Young women and men need access to comprehensive, medically accurate sex education that can save their lives. Sadly, Congress and the administration seem committed to continuing down the opposite path, both at home and abroad.
