Pope lambasted over Aids
2009-03-18 14:02
Yaounde - Aids campaigners in Cameroon on Wednesday lambasted Pope Benedict XVI over his assertion that condoms were aggravating the epidemic, saying the 81-year-old was out of touch with the modern world.
"Is the pope living in the 21st century?" asked Alain Fogue, a spokesperson for MOCPAT, a group campaigning for access to treatment for sufferers.
"The people will not follow what the pope is saying. He lives in Heaven and we are on Earth," he said.
"To claim that condoms 'aggravate' the problem of Aids goes totally against all the efforts made by the Cameroonian government and other actors implicated in the struggle against Aids in Cameroon," Fogue added.
The pope began his first visit to the Aids-ravaged continent on Tuesday, telling reporters that Aids was a tragedy "that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems."
The solution lies in a "spiritual and human awakening" and "friendship for those who suffer", he added.
But on Wednesday, Fogue argued: "Whether he likes it or not, 99 out of 100 Catholics use the condom today. The pope has to know that the flesh is weak.
"Did the pope not know when he arrived in Cameroon that HIV-positive people represent a large proportion of the population?"
The pope's comments were already denounced on Tuesday by SunAids, another Cameroonian campaign group.
According to the joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), more than 5% of adults among Cameroon's estimated 18.9 million people suffer from the disease, based on 2007 figures.