Journal attacks Pope over condom claims

ONE of the world’s top medical journals accused Pope Benedict XVI yesterday of having distorted scientific evidence in his remarks on condom use and demanded he make a retraction.

It said the Pope’s recent comments that condoms exacerbated the problem of HIV/Aids were wildly inaccurate and could have devastating consequences.

“By saying that condoms exacerbate the problem of HIV/Aids, the Pope has publicly distorted scientific evidence to promote Cath-olic doctrine on this issue,” The Lancet said in a stinging attack in its editorial.

“Whether the Pope’s error was due to ignorance or a deliberate attempt to manipulate science to support Catholic ideology is unclear.

“But the comment still stands, and the Vatican’s attempts to tweak the Pope’s words, further tampering with the truth, is not the way forward.”

The London-based journal added: “When any influential person, be it a religious or political figure, makes a false scientific statement that could be devastating to the health of millions of people, they should retract or correct the public record.

“Anything less from Pope Benedict would be an immense disservice to the public and health advocates, including many thousands of Catholics who work tirelessly to try and prevent the spread of HIV/Aids worldwide.”

The Pope made the remarks last week when he travelled to Africa, the worst-hit continent for HIV/Aids.

He said the disease was a tragedy “that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems”, the Pope said on his flight to Cameroon.

About 1.7 million people, mostly women, in sub-Saharan Africa became infected with the virus in 2007, bringing the total number of infections in the region to 22.5 million, according to the latest report by UNAIDS, the United Nations programme that deals with HIV/Aids.

That’s two-thirds of the global number of people who are living with the virus.