Newsday - June 23, 1992
Laurie Garrett
The leader of the global fight against AIDS will tell Congress today that widespread, generally free distribution of condoms has at least partly controlled the epidemic in five places in the world.
Dr. Michael Merson, director of the World Health Organization's global program on AIDS, painted an optimistic picture, saying in an interview yesterday in Manhattan that "investment in prevention for AIDS is a good investment. We've got methods that work." That optimism is in stark contrast to a report issued last week by the Global AIDS Policy Coalition, a Harvard think tank that concluded that no effort to control AIDS had met with genuine success anywhere in the world.
Merson also said he would ask Congress to allocate greater funds for WHO programs. The United States is the biggest international AIDS-prevention spender. The House has already earmarked $80 million for global AIDS control for 1993. The Senate has yet to consider the budget.
Last year several key members of Congress questioned whether money spent on AIDS control by WHO and the United States Agency for International Development was having any positive effect overseas.
Apparently what works is condoms - widely promoted and distributed either free or at very low cost, Merson said. Each country and community must promote three concepts, he said: sexual abstinence, marital fidelity and condom use.
Some members of Congress and local politicians oppose condom promotion, fearing that it encourages youthful promiscuity. "Condom promotion is a sensitive matter in every society, but it has to bae done because it's a matter of life and death," Merson, said.
Examples of successes that WHO will cite today before Congress include:
Thai government distribution of condoms to brothels in a province outside Bangkok last year has met with 100 percent use by female prostitutes and a sharp drop in all sexually transmitted diseases.
A 5-year-old Swiss National AIDS Campaign that promotes condom use has doubled condom sales, particularly among unmarried youths aged 17-30. The incidence of new HIV infections declined. According to surveys, the campaign did not cause any increase in casual sex among young people.
Similar campaigns have increased condom use among truck drivers in Tanzania, soldiers in Rwanda, and prostitutes in parts of Mexico, Zaire, Peru and Zimbabwe.
An AIDS campaign conducted by and for Australian gays has brought HIV incidence down five-fold in that group.
Though he strongly believes that, "youths should delay sexual intercourse," Merson said condom promotion has clearly led to the successes seen to date.
920623
ND920603
Copyright © 1992 - Newsday. All rights reserved. All pages of newsday.com are copyright © Newsday, Inc. Other parties may also own rights to portions of newsday.com content. No portion of newsday.com content may be published, broadcast or distributed, directly or indirectly, in any medium without Newsday's prior written consent. Newsday, Inc. will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any content on newsday.com. http://www.newsday.com.
ÆGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Roxane Laboratories, Inc., iMetrikus, Inc., the National Library of Medicine, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 1992. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
ÆGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Copyright ©1990, 2000. ÆGiS & the Sisters of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. All materials appearing on ÆGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of ÆGIS and the Sisters of Saint. Elizabeth of Hungary, or the party credited as the provider of the content.