Wednesday, 26 September 2007, 14:50 GMT 15:50 UK

The Catholic Church formally opposes any use of condoms
The head of the Catholic Church in Mozambique has told the BBC he believes
some European-made condoms are infected with HIV deliberately.
Maputo Archbishop Francisco Chimoio claimed some anti-retroviral drugs were
also infected "in order to finish quickly the African people".

The Catholic Church formally opposes any use of condoms, advising fidelity
within marriage or sexual abstinence.

Aids activists have been angered by the remarks, one calling them
"nonsense".

"We've been using condoms for years now, and we still find them safe,"
prominent Mozambican Aids activist Marcella Mahanjane told the BBC.

The UN says anti-retrovirals (ARVs) have proved very effective for treating
people with Aids. The drugs are not a cure, but attack the virus on several
fronts at once.

The BBC's Jose Tembe in the capital, Maputo, says it is estimated that
16.2% of Mozambique's 19m inhabitants are HIV positive.

About 500 people are infected every day.

'Serious matter'

Archbishop Chimoio told our reporter that abstention, not condoms, was the
best way to fight HIV/Aids.

Condoms are one of the best manners of getting protection against
catching Aids

Aids activist Gabe Judas

"Condoms are not sure because I know that there are two countries in
Europe, they are making condoms with the virus on purpose," he alleged,
refusing to name the countries.

"They want to finish with the African people. This is the programme. They
want to colonise until up to now. If we are not careful we will finish in
one century's time."

Aids activists in the country have been shocked by the archbishop's
comments.

"Condoms are one of the best ways of getting protection against catching
Aids," said Gabe Judas, who runs Tchivirika (Hard Work) - an theatre group
that promotes HIV/Aids awareness.

"People must use condoms as it's a safe way of having sex without catching
Aids," he told the BBC.

Archbishop Chimoio, who made the remarks at celebrations to mark 33 years
of independence, said that fighting the disease was a serious matter.

"If we are joking with this sickness we will be finished as soon as
possible.

"If we want to change the situation to face HIV/Aids it's necessary to have
a new mentality, if we don't change mentality we'll be finished quickly,"
he said.

"It means marriage, people being faithful to their wives... (and) young
people must be abstaining from sexual relations."

Our correspondent says the archbishop is well respected in the country and
the Catholic Church played a leading role in sponsoring the 1992 peace deal
that ended a 16-year civil war.

Some 17.5% of Mozambicans are Catholic.

Death wrote...
I find this paranoid conspiracy theory hard to believe. While drug
companies have an interest in promoting the spread of HIV, condom
manufacturers have a strong financial interest in maintaining the
public perception that condoms prevent disease. If this archpope
dude can prove that an HIV drug company owns a condom manufacturer
then I would consider the possibility.

The AIDS advocates are making too much of a fuss about this and that
makes me suspicious. The archpope is correct when he says that
abstinence is more effective than condoms in preventing HIV, so
following his advice shouldn't make the epidemic any worse. Maybe
Mozimbabweans are so dumb that they can only follow half of their
catholic religious teaching by having promiscuous extra-marital sex
without using condoms. The high HIV rate shows that Mozimbabweans
already ignore catholic teachings on sexual behavior, so why are
AIDS advocates so worried that they will suddenly obey the archpope's
no-condom rule?

================================================== =======
"There is no truth. You just pick the lie you like best.
As long as you know as you know everything's a lie, you
can't hurt yourself."
-- Marilyn Manson
================================================== =======

"dank" <dank@nugget.org> wrote in message
Kenya First Lady: Condom "is causing the spread of AIDS in this country."
By Peter Smith

NAIROBI, May 23, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The First Lady of Kenya, Lucy
Kibaki, spoke to Kenyan schoolgirls last week to warn them that sexual
abstinence before marriage, not condoms, was essential to preserving their
lives and futures. In speeches Thursday, and Saturday, Mrs. Kibaki spoke to
high school girls about preserving their dignity and future, and urged them
not to be duped into using the condom, which she linked to the spread of
the AIDS epidemic that has sent millions of Kenyans and other Africans to
an early grave.

"Fellow citizens, this gadget called the condom . is causing the spread of
AIDS in this country", Mrs. Kibaki said Saturday in a speech she delivered
at St. Francis Girls' Secondary School in Dol Dol in the north of Kenya.
(from the Kenyan television NTV) Just days before in Nairobi, Kenya's
capital, Mrs. Kibaki had taken her message to the State House Girls High
School for an awards ceremony, saying, "I am not telling you to use
condoms. I am not in favour of condoms." Mrs. Kibaki blamed the rapid
spread of Aids on a campaign that has pressured youth to use condoms
instead of practicing abstinence before marriage (according to the Kenya
Broadcasting Corporation). "I caution girls to be careful about their
sexual behavior as this can lead to teenage pregnancy or HIV/AIDS
infection."

Mrs. Lucy Kibaki, who chairs the Organisation of the 40 African First
Ladies, has joined with Ugandan First Lady Janet Musevi in calling for
abstinence as the only way to stop the AIDS pandemic in Africa. Mrs. Musevi
has for years been increasingly vocal about encouraging youth to practice
abstinence before marriage as the way to prevent HIV transmission. The AIDS
prevention program in Uganda, begun by her husband has cut pre-marital and
extra-marital sexual activity down by stressing abstinence and fidelity to
one's spouse. Likewise the HIV transmission rate fell drastically from 18%
to 5-7%, making it clear that abstinence has been the best tool of the most
successful country in the fight against the disease.

Mrs. Kibaki's speeches have caused "shock" in AIDS activists, and generated
"controversy", since she has dared to take her message that condoms spread
AIDS to the youth, especially to the girls. As many African leaders have
learned, anything that challenges the hallowed values of the Western sexual
revolution is "controversial". Mrs. Kibaki's speeches have touched a nerve
in AIDS activists, who continue to promote condom use, even though the 2003
UN report on condoms showed that they failed 10% of the time to prevent
disease transmission, meaning that contraction of the disease means "when",
rather than "if". For First Lady, Lucy Kibaki, "never" is a sure bet with
abstinence.

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Uganda's First Lady Warns Teens against Condom Use
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/jan/04011205.html


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"dank" <dank@nugget.org> wrote in message

NEWS
30 September 2007
Posted to the web 1 October 2007

By Gladys Kalibbala
Kampala

A deadly strain of tuberculosis (TB) is on the increase in Uganda, the
Uganda National Association of Nurses and Midwives has warned.

Janet Obuni, the association's president, on Saturday said each carrier of
the drug-resistant disease was capable of infecting about 20 people in a
lifetime.


"Without strict precautions, a bigger number of people will be infected
because this type of TB is dangerous as most of the infected people stay
with their families. The congestion in urban area and other places may also
add to the infection risks."

A medical staff at Mulago Hospital revealed that they had recorded 71 cases
of the deadly TB strain.

"So far, there is no clear medication for the patients.

The strain threatens to cause a global pandemic, but in Uganda its
magnitude is not yet established."

Other cases were reported in Arua, Mbarara, Kabale, Mbale and Soroti
districts, Obuni said.

Addressing journalists in Entebbe, Obuni appealed to the Government to
intervene.

Ten members of the association from different districts returned from
Kenya's capital, Nairobi, where they were trained in methods of tackling
the serious disease.

"Although we have received some training in the management of
multi-resistant TB from an international body, we still need the Government
to avail us drugs in order to check the disease before it runs out of
hand," Obuni said.

Facts about tuberculosis


TB is spread through air. When infectious people cough, sneeze, talk or
spit, they propel TB germs, known as bacilli, into the air. A person needs
only to inhale a small number of these to be infected
If the bacteria overcome the body's immune system, the person becomes ill
Drug-resistant TB is caused by inconsistent or partial treatment
Symptoms include chest pain, coughing up blood, a productive, prolonged
cough for more than three weeks, weakness, fatigue, weight loss, no
appetite, chills, fever, sweating at night
TB is a preventable disease. The best way to control TB is to diagnose and
treat people before they develop active disease and to take careful
precautions with people hospitalised with TB