On Thu, 07 Oct 2004 14:41:42 -0400, "PaulKing"
<aimulti@aimultimedia.com> wrote:
Incorrect. What the study showed below was that a behavior change
program wasn't helping. That may also be in part due to the way women
are treated. Condoms aren't the whole answer--cultures are more
complicated than that! But this doesn't abrogate the intrinsic value
of the condom in an act of vaginal or anal intercourse in attenuating
the risk of HIV or other STD infection.
And indeed, the study's results are disputed by others. Data below.
George M. Carter
**
Hearst N, Chen S. Condom promotion for AIDS prevention in the
developing world: is it working? Stud Fam Plann. 2004 Mar;35(1):39-47.
University of California, Box 0900, 500 Parnassus Avenue MU3E, San
Francisco, CA 94143, USA. nhearst@itsa.ucsf.edu
Two decades of experience and research provide new insights into the
role of condoms for AIDS prevention in the developing world. This
literature review and synthesis is based on computerized searches of
the scientific literature and review of conference presentations,
publications of national and international organizations, and popular
media. Condoms are about 90 percent effective for preventing HIV
transmission, and their use has grown rapidly in many countries.
Condoms have produced substantial benefit in countries like Thailand,
where both transmission and condom promotion are concentrated in the
area of commercial sex. The public health benefit of condom promotion
in settings with widespread heterosexual transmission, however,
remains unestablished. In countries like Uganda that have curbed
generalized epidemics, reducing the number of individuals' sex
partners appears to have been more important than promoting the use of
condoms. Other countries continue to have high rates of HIV
transmission despite high reported rates of condom use among the
sexually active. The impact of condoms may be limited by inconsistent
use, low use among those at highest risk, and negative interactions
with other strategies. Recommendations include increased condom
promotion for groups at high risk, more rigorous measurement of the
impact of condom promotion, and more research on how best to integrate
condom promotion with other prevention strategies.
**
Stoneburner RL, Low-Beer D. Population-level HIV declines and
behavioral risk avoidance in Uganda. Science. 2004 Apr
30;304(5671):714-718.
Population Health Evaluation Unit, Cambridge University, Cambridge,
UK. randstoneburner@netzero.net
Uganda provides the clearest example that human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV) is preventable if populations are mobilized to avoid risk.
Despite limited resources, Uganda has shown a 70% decline in HIV
prevalence since the early 1990s, linked to a 60% reduction in casual
sex. The response in Uganda appears to be distinctively associated
with communication about acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)
through social networks. Despite substantial condom use and promotion
of biomedical approaches, other African countries have shown neither
similar behavioral responses nor HIV prevalence declines of the same
scale. The Ugandan success is equivalent to a vaccine of 80%
effectiveness. Its replication will require changes in global HIV/AIDS
intervention policies and their evaluation.
**
Schleifer R. ABC approach not enough, reports show. Can HIV AIDS
Policy Law Rev. 2003 Dec;8(3):42-3.
Reports released recently by Human Rights Watch reveal that many women
in Africa remain extremely vulnerable to HIV infection because of the
violence practised against them, and because of legal systems that do
not take the issue of violence seriously or that discriminate against
women.
**
Singh S, Darroch JE, Bankole A. A, B and C in Uganda: the roles of
abstinence, monogamy and condom use in HIV decline. Reprod Health
Matters. 2004 May;12(23):129-31.
Uganda is often cited as a role model in the fight against HIV/AIDS
because of its success in reducing both prevalence and incidence of
HIV infection since the late 1980s. Although an increase in sexual
abstinence has been highlighted as a primary cause of the declines,
large increases have also been recorded in monogamy and condom use.
The extent to which each of these factors actually influenced the
overall decline in Uganda's HIV rates has become a highly charged
political issue in the United States, leading to restrictions on how
US development funding for combatting HIV is allocated. The Alan
Guttmacher Institute investigated changes that occurred in abstinence,
monogamy and condom use in Uganda in the 1990s, using nationally
representative data from Uganda's Demographic and Health Surveys of
1988 (women only), 1995 and 2000 (women and men), and national-level
findings from two surveys by the Global Programme on AIDS in 1989 and
1995 (women and men). Reduction of infection risk by lowering numbers
or types of partners among people with more than one relationship was
not covered. Here we reprint the chapter on "Implications" from the
AGI report, a commentary on the lessons that can and cannot be taken
from the data, published in a 2003 Guttmacher Report on Public Policy.
"Condoms are about 90 percent effective for preventing HIV transmission,
and their use has grown rapidly in many countries."
What a total lie.
"The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the
National Institutes of Health, released the report compiled by the panel
of 28 experts, who analyzed about 138 published studies on the use of
condoms during penile-vaginal intercourse.
"There was a lack of evidence to help us make a definitive conclusion
about the effectiveness of condoms," said panel member Dr. Timothy
Schacker, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota"
The condom itself is not 100 % safe. Result of examination show the
following :
A condom is made of rubber (latex), a hydrocarbon compound with
polymerization, which means that it is fibrous and porous like woven
cloth. By means of an electronic microscope the pores of the condom can be
seen in a non-stretched state with a width of 1/60 micron, while the
HIV/AIDS virus has a width of 1/250 micron. When the condom is stretched
the pores of the condom are 10 times as wide as that of the virus; in
other words, the virus can go through the wall of the condom. The condom
was designed for family planning (to strain sperm, not viruses); and a
condom is not meant for fornication/prostitution.
Research carried out in the U.S. on 89 condoms in circulation on the
market proved that 29 out of 89 leaked, which means that the leakage was
about 30 %. In Indonesia condoms imported from Hong Kong in 1996 were
withdrawn from market because 50 % leaked. In practice in the field there
is often failure of condoms use for family planning because of leakage,
let alone for fornication/prostitution. As a comparison, sperm are as
large as oranges and viruses as large as a period (dot).
THE FLAWED CONDOM
Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) researchers, using powerful electron
microscopes, have found that new latex, from which condoms are fabricated,
contains "maximum inherent flaw[s]" (that is, holes) 70 microns in
diameter. (9)
These holes are 700 times larger than the HIV-1 virus. There are pores in
latex, and some of the pores are large enough to pass sperm-sized
particles. Carey, et al., observed leakage of HIV-sized particles through
33%+ of the latex condoms tested. In addition, as Gordon points out in his
review, the testing procedures for condoms are less than desirable. United
States condom manufacturers are allowed 0.4% leaky condoms (AQL). Gordon
states, "The fluctuations in sampling permits many batches not meeting AQL
to be sold." In the United
States, 12% of domestic and 21% of imported batches of condoms have failed
to meet the 0.4% AQL. (10)
9."Anomalous Fatigue Behavior in Polysoprene," Rubber Chemistry and
Technology, Vol. 62, #4, Sep.-Oct. 1989.
10.Collart, David G., M.D., loc. cit.
CONDOMS FAIL TESTING
In a 1988 study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, Bruce
Voeller of the Mariposa Foundation in Topanga, California, a non-profit
organization dedicated to preventing the spread of sexually transmitted
diseases, ranked 31 brands of latex condoms according to how well they met
the U.S. and international quality assurance standards designed to ensure
that condoms provide an effective
barrier against human sperm.
"Many of the condoms now on the market would not get FDA approval if they
were required to meet today’s standards," says
Voeller. Although all condoms sold in the U.S.are supposed to pass quality
assurance tests, those marketed before 1976 need not meet the more
stringent requirements necessary to win FDA marketing approval. (11)
Dr. Collart reports that "Gotszche and Hording in their study of in vivo
[real life] condom failure rates concluded ‘Condoms to
prevent HIV transmission do not imply truly safe sex.’ In addition
Steiner, et al., observed newer lots of condoms had actual breakage rates
of 3.5-8.8%, while actual breakage rates for older lots ranged from
9.8-18.6%. In a study conducted by Ahmed, et al., 29%-42% of those who had
used condoms experienced at least one breakage. In a survey conducted by
the University of Manchester, 52% of those who had obtained condoms from
their family planning clinic had one or more either burst or slip off in
the 3 months before the survey. In
studies by Albert, et al., and by Wright, et al., 36% and 38% of their
respondents reported condom failures respectively." (12)
11.Nowak, Rachel, "Research Reveals Condom Conundrums," The Journal of NIH
Research, Vol. 5, Jan. 1993, pp. 32, 33.
12.Collart, David G., M.D., op. cit.
CONDOM CLIMATE CONTROL
Condoms are sensitive to heat and cold, yet they are not normally
transported in climate-controlled vehicles. Vesey, in his study
ofcondoms,checked 72,000 trucks and has actual photographs of eggs frying
in the backs of trucks used for condom distribution.
Partly due to Vesey’s study, Burlington County, NJ, banned the
distribution of condoms at the county’s AIDS counselling center, because
they concluded that the risk of liability for condom failures was too
great. (17)
17.Vesey, W.B., HLI Reports, Vol. 9, pp. 1-4, 1991.
• Condoms have an annual contraceptive failure rate of 18.4 % for girls
under the age of 18; among young, unmarried, minority women the annual
failure rate is 36.3 %
• Many of the germs that cause STDs occur in areas not covered by the
condom. For example, genital warts can occur throughout the genital area,
such as on the scrotum and in the anal area. In those cases, wearing a
condom wouldn’t prevent the germs from being passed between partners.
Similarly, the sores that a person gets with herpes, syphilis, and
gonorrhea can occur outside the area covered by a condom.
STANDARD WATER TEST
"The FDA tests every batch of imported condoms as well, though imports
account for very few condoms used in this country. Although the smallest
hole the water test can find is 100 times bigger than the HIV virus,
officials believe the water test is sufficient. "
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