AIDS conference delegates urge condom use

Scientists, activists and policymakers today touted condoms as a trusted weapon in the fight against AIDS, dismissing President George Bush’s policy of abstinence as a “serious setback” in global efforts to control the pandemic.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni was the only big-name speaker at the International Aids Conference in Bangkok to support the 'ABC' policy of the United States: Abstinence, Being faithful and Condoms.

Museveni said loving relationships based on trust were crucial, and that “the principle of condoms is not the ultimate solution”.

Condoms have been promoted as a frontline defence against AIDS by countries such as Thailand, where a campaign to get sex workers to insist on condoms yielded a more-than-sevenfold reduction in HIV rates in 13 years.

Some 25 million of the 38 million infected with HIV worldwide are in sub-Saharan Africa, but the virus is taking root increasingly in Asia, where 7.6 million are infected.

In Asia, the sex trade has been the main engine behind infections in countries such as Thailand and Cambodia, where epidemics exploded by the late 1980s - sparking aggressive responses including campaigns to boost condom use.

Proponents say there is no better way to prevent HIV than by using condoms and giving clean syringes to intravenous drug users.

Their philosophy is known as CNN, or Condoms, Needles, Negotiating Skills. The Bush administration maintains that emphasising condoms promotes promiscuity among the youth.

Uganda has waged a successful battle against HIV in a rare success story for sub-Saharan Africa – though some experts say it is unclear how it has been achieved.

Musaveni credited abstinence. Uganda has brought its infection rate down from more than 30% in the early 1990s to about 6% of the country’s 25 million people last year.

There was consensus at the six-day conference, in its second day, that fighting the epidemic needs more money that can only come from rich countries.