The World AIDS day was celebrated only a few days ago and as the case always is, it was marked by massive distrobution of condoms all over the world-all in a bid to reduce the number of people that could be infected with AIDS or Sexually Transmitted Diseases like Human Papillomavirus.
The distribution of condoms is a major reason why teens, youths and single people continue to live sexually irresponsible lives. The truth people who hand condpms to single people fail to them is that condoms haven't helped much in reducing the rate STDs. Medical practitioners continue to tell those who care to listen that there is no such thing as "safe sex" but "safer sex". "Safe sex" is a myth aingle people are persuaded to believe at the detriment of their own emotional, spiritual and physical well being.
Far too long, single people have been lied to and that has to change for the advancement of society. One of the nations that proves the myth of "safe sex" is Botswana. For over a decade Botswana relied upon wide spread availability of condoms in order to combat AIDS. Campaign for abstinence and fidelity were not emphasized. Instead, billboards about "safe sex" lined the streets, while school children learned songs about condoms.
According to the Washington post, "The anti-AIDS partnership between Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and drug maker Merck budgeted $13.5million for condom promotion-25 times the amount dedicated to curbing dangerous sexual behaviour. But soaring rates of condom use have not brought down high HIV rates. Instead, they rose together, until both were among the highest in Africa.* Surely if condoms could do any good, the story would have been different.
In contrast to Botswana's strategy to curb HIV and STDs, Uganda applied a different measure. In the late 1980s Uganda was viewed as the worst nation in the world in terms of HIV/AIDS infections. In 1991, 22percent of people in the country were infected with HIV. By 1999, the number had dropped to 6percent. Uganda President Yoweri Museveni insists that their unique success among Africa countries per capita expenditure on developed countries, which emphasis use of condoms in their fight against the disease. Instead of placing the primary emphasis on condoms, they emphasised abstinence and faithfulness first. As a result, they experienced the greatest decline of HIV in the world although, all that changed when foreign Aids experts began to arrive in the country in the 1990s. As condom use increased in Uganda, the percentage of young singles having sex rose fron 27percent to 33percent between 1995 and 2000**.
while condoms may reduce the risk of HIV and STDs, they do not protect against the disease neither can condoms take away the emptiness, guilt, burden and confusion you feel from sharing your life with people you are not married to. Even if you have been involved in premarital sex many times, it is not too late to make a better choice now-the choice to wait for sex until marriage. works cited
*Tim Allen and Suzette Heald, "HIV/AIDS policy in Africa: What has worked in Uganda and What has failed in Botswana?" Journal of International Development 16:8 (November 8, 2004), 1141-1154; Michael Cassell et al., "Risk Compensation: The Achilles' Heel of Innovations in HIV prevention?". British Medical Journal 332 (March 11, 2006), 605-607
**Yoweri Museveni, 11th International Conference of People Living with HIV, as reported by Panafrica News Agency Daily Newswire (October 29, 2003)
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