SA should urge condom usage
2007-06-07 15:13
Special Report
The SA Medical Association says it is "gravely concerned" about HIV/Aids statistics which show a huge Aids-related leap in South Africa's death rate.
Durban - The head of the United Nations Aids programme, Peter Piot, says South Africa should promote condoms more widely to try and curb its Aids pandemic.
"We all like simple solutions, but anything that has the
word 'only' in it is not effective," Piot told reporters at the third South African Aids conference held in the city.
But he singled out condoms, which meet a lot of resistance
in South Africa, as highly effective and criticised US
President George Bush's abstinence-only HIV-prevention strategy.
"If there is one thing that works and that prevents people
from HIV, it is condoms," Piot said.
While condoms are widely accessible and affordable for most
South Africans, they are often shunned, especially by men who
consider prophylactics cut down on their sexual pleasure.
Others, especially in rural black communities, have been
dissuaded from using them due to superstitions, including a
belief that condoms are infected with worms.
While praising South Africa's government for pledging to
dramatically expand access to life-saving Aids drugs and
HIV-testing, Piot said the continent's economic powerhouse
needed greater efforts to prevent new infections, which are
occurring at a rate of about 1 500 per day.
He said that male circumcision, abstinence and social
programmes designed to combat violence against women were among
the weapons that would protect people from the virus.
An estimated 12% of South Africa's 47 million people
are infected with HIV, the virus that can lead to AIDS.
- Reuters