"US Abstinence Drive Hurts AIDS Fight - UN Official," by Andrew Quinn - Reuters (Johannesburg), 29 Aug 2005
The U.S. government's emphasis on abstinence-only programs to prevent AIDS is hobbling Africa's battle against the pandemic by playing down the role of condoms, a senior U.N. official said on Monday.
Stephen Lewis, the U.N. secretary-general's special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, said Christian ideology was driving Washington's AIDS assistance program known as PEPFAR with disastrous results such as a shortage of condoms in Uganda.
Washington rejected the criticism.
"There is no question in my mind that the condom crisis in Uganda is being driven and exacerbated by PEPFAR and by the extreme policies that the administration in the U.S. is now pursuing in the emphasis on abstinence," Lewis told journalists on a teleconference.
Uganda had been praised for cutting HIV infection rates to around 6 percent today from 30 percent in the early 1990s, a rare success story in Africa's battle against the disease.
But President Yoweri Museveni's government has been criticized for what activists say is a reduction in the number of free condoms available due to pressure from Washington through the PEPFAR program.
A top U.S. official rejected Lewis's criticism and that it had forced Uganda to reduce the condoms available, saying the Bush administration supported condom use as part of a balanced program that included prevention.
"The statements that I have heard are completely untrue and completely mischaracterize effective prevention programs," Mark Dybul, deputy U.S. global AIDS coordinator and chief medical officer, told Reuters by telephone.
"That distortion of the preventive apparatus ... is resulting in great damage and undoubtedly will cause significant numbers of infections which should never have occurred," Lewis added.
Many health experts say condoms are the most effective bulwark against AIDS. Dybul and a Ugandan minister said there was no shortage in the country....
USAID fact sheets on the PEPFAR program are available on-line.
"Uganda's Anti-AIDS Program Under New Fire after Global Fund Suspension" - AFP (Kampala), 29 Aug 2005
Less than a week after losing millions of dollars in grants over alleged financial mismanagement, Uganda's anti-AIDS program has come under new criticism with a US group alleging the country faces a massive condom shortage.
Just days after The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria temporarily froze 201 million dollars (163 million euros) in assistance to Uganda, the Washington-based Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE) accused Kampala of playing politics and religion in its fight against the killer disease.
In a statement received here Monday, CHANGE said the once-hailed Ugandan anti-AIDS effort was being hijacked by religious conservatives intent on eliminating condom use from its heretofore successful programs.
This, it said, had led to a severe shortage of prophylactics in the country and threatened to reverse gains made in reducing HIV infection rates, a warning similar to one issued earlier this year by the New York-based Human Rights Watch....
The charges were immediately denied by the Ugandan health ministry which accused the group of spreading rumors to hurt the country's image still reeling from the Global Fund's announcement of the grant suspension on Wednesday.
"We have enough condoms," minister of state for health Mike Mukula told the Daily Monitor newspaper. "That there is a condom shortage in the country is just a rumor by people who want to spoil the image of this country."
Despite the denial, the CHANGE statement echoed many of the concerns outlined by Human Rights Watch that warned Uganda's AIDS prevention programs were at risk because the country was increasingly deferring to new abstinence-only programs promoted by President George W. Bush's conservative administration.
"The Battle over Uganda's AIDS Campaign," by Will Ross (in Kampala) - BBC News (World Edition), 12 April 2005
...This push for abstinence and faithfulness in the fight against HIV/Aids has been welcomed by some sections of society, especially religious groups.
Pastor Martin Ssempa says donor funding has for years been heavily biased towards condom promotion, and he claims this has lead to an escalation in casual sex and infidelity.
The outspoken pastor says it is time for that to change.
"Until recently, all HIV-related billboards were about condoms. Those of us calling for abstinence and faithfulness need billboards too," he says.
However, others consider it dangerous to push the "A" for "Abstinence" and the "B" for "Be Faithful" if the "C" for "Condom" message is lost or diluted.
After all, it was the ABC approach and a policy of openness inspired by President Yoweri Museveni which helped Uganda perform well in the fight against HIV/Aids compared to other countries.
Many African governments have fared miserably in attempting to counter the HIV pandemic, with devastating consequences.
By comparison, Uganda has performed well in bringing down the HIV prevalence to around 6%. In many parts of the country, it was at least three times as high during the early 1990s....
The March 2005 Human Rights Watch report on Uganda's AIDS prevention program is available on-line:
"The Less They Know, the Better - Abstinence-Only HIV/AIDS Programs in Uganda"
Also see this October 2004 appeal from the Health Action AIDS (a joint project of Physicians for Human Rights and Partners in Health), asking members to write letters to the editor warning that effective AIDS prevention must be based on science and not on 'ideology':
"Science Under Attack" - a Health Action AIDS Urgent Action call, dated 19 Oct 2004
Added 31 Aug 2005
"US Denies Pressuring Uganda to Change AIDS Policy," by Joe de Capua - VOA, 30 Aug 2005
...Dr. Mark Dybul, Deputy US Global AIDS Coordinator, denies the United States is exerting any pressure on Uganda to change its AIDS prevention approach. He says, "Nothing could be more absurd."
Dr. Dybul says the Bush Administration supports Uganda’s ABC prevention system.
"Fifteen years ago, long before it became fashionable for international organizations to pop into Uganda for a couple of days and tell them how to run their country, the Ugandans developed what’s known as ABC – abstain, be faithful and, if you can’t do either, correct and consistent use of condoms. This approach has been remarkably successful by all documentation," he says.
He says it’s true the Bush Administration is now stressing A & B – abstinence and being faithful - because an overemphasis has been placed on C, condom use, in some areas. Dr. Dybul says that’s to ensure there’s a balanced ABC approach in the country.
"In concentrated epidemics, where the infection is concentrated among prostitutes, drug users, truckers, condom-only approaches tend to work fairly well because you have a concentrated group of people. In a generalized epidemic, which is what we see in Uganda, throughout all of Africa, where the infection is already in the general community, only an ABC approach works. Condoms-only is a failed, failed approach," he says....
"The difficulty [with condom supply] in Uganda is because a large batch of condoms that was ordered in Uganda smelled bad and people complained about them. They were tested and found to have a lot of holes in them. So they had to pull them from the market, which is good public health strategy....It is preposterous to say that a policy of ABC led to the production of bad condoms," he says....
The Bush Administration says it has sent large amounts of condoms to Uganda to deal with the problem, and that they are awaiting the country’s quality control testing.The Administration also denies most of the PEPFAR money goes to faith-based organizations. However, it highly praises such organizations, saying they should receive more aid and that the pandemic cannot be defeated without their help.
I have to admit I've had a hard time believing the accusation that the US is knowingly undermining Uganda's AIDS prevention efforts. Reading some of the background material, I get the feeling that anti-Museveni and perhaps anti-Bush sentiment influences some of the charges being made by activists. However, Dr. Dybul's statement - especially his argument that condoms are only effective in preventing AIDS among truck drivers and prostitutes - has done a lot to erode my scepticism.
In any event, it is disturbing to see that the abstinence-vs.-condoms issue has been raised for almost a year without a credible US response, on either the program or public diplomacy level. This crisis was both predictable and avoidable.
CHANGE (The Center for Health and Gender Equity, a US-based nonprofit) has a Web page on Uganda's 'condom crisis,' including a fact sheet that seems to back up claims that over half of PEPFAR funds have been put into astinence and 'be faithful' programs over the past two years, and that safe sex programs have been "allowed to be directed only at 'high-risk' groups in discrete locations" ("Ugandan Condom Crisis: Basic Facts" - Center for Health and Gender Equality, August 2005).
CHANGE's Web page is, by the way, an excellent example of how to use public communication to shape discussion on an issue. As far as I can tell, no US body has made a similar effort.
Also see this news item, which seems to concern a different but possibly related complaint from an international donor about Uganda's AIDS prevention programs:
"Uganda Calls in Help for HIV Fund" - BBC News (World Ediiton), 31 Aug 2005
Uganda is to bring in an international firm of auditors, Ernst and Young, to temporarily oversee the management of funds for fighting Aids.
This follows the suspension of donor money amid accusations of financial mismanagement.
Last week, the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria halted more than $150m of its grant to Uganda....
The announcement that auditors Ernst and Young have been engaged follows a meeting between Health Minister Jim Muhwezi, and the Global Fund.
The government had set up a Project Management Unit (PMU) to deal with cash disbursed by the Global Fund, but the PMU has since been disbanded....
The fund had said a shortfall was created when dollars were converted into Ugandan shillings by the Ministry of Health. It also quoted other accounting problems....
Added 4 Sept 2005:
"Uganda Urged to Release Condoms" - BBC News (World Edition), 2 Sept 2005
Health and Aids campaigners in Uganda are threatening legal action against the government unless it releases 30m condoms which they say are in storage.
They say government policy on Aids has changed to reflect an American demand for a greater emphasis on abstinence.
Earlier in the week, Ugandan Health Minister Mike Mikula said government policy had not changed.
At the same time, a major donor says it will resume Aids funding, following earlier money management concerns....
Une fois qu'on atteint ce nombre 144000 (Apocalypse14: 1) le saint secret de dieu arrivera à terme, cet ancien système du monde dirigé par Satan et ses hommes disparaîtra, le royaume au ciel de Jéhovah dirigera aussi notre terre, le paradis s'installera sur la terre, les justes posséderont la terre et sur elle ils résideront pour toujours (Psaumes37: 29, Matthieu5: 5, Proverbes2: 21, Isaîe11: 9, Ecclésiaste1: 4, Isaîe45: 18 )... Le royaume céleste de Jéhovah dirigé par Jésus Christ est le seul espoir pour la terre entière, face à ce système diabolique planétaire défaillant en toute sorte. Très bientôt, il dirigera notre terre. Il y aura 144000 rois (reines) choisis par dieu parmi les êtres humains qui règnent avec Jésus Christ au ciel après ses morts, ils(elles) dirigeront la terre, Jésus Christ est le roi de ces rois... Comme la fin de ce monde dirigé par Satan€$£ et ses militaires6 ainsi que ses peuples5 tombe bien à notre ère, donc, il faut oser à dire par tout le moyen à tous les humains que: ce qui ne font pas la volonté de dieu Jah et ce qui ne croit pas au sacrifice de Jésus C. pour nous délivrer mourront à Har-Maguédon (Apocalypse16: 16)... Pourquoi l' indépendance à Jah n'est pas bonne? Parce que lors de la rébellion d'Adam, Eve et Satan contre Jéhovah notre dieu créateur,ils ont choisi de ne pas dépendre de dieu, alors que: dieu Jah les laisse se diriger entre eux sans intervenir pour prouver s'il est vraiment bon ou mauvais de ne pas dépendre de lui "ou" de ne pas suivre sa parole (ses conseils). Les conséquences de cette désobéissance (indépendance) est donc: la mort, la maladie, la haine, la tuerie6, l'égoïsme de certains dirigeants, l'hypocrisie de la religion... Les conséquences de cette épreuve d' indépendance (qui a eu lieu sur notre terre) est très importante à démontrer à l égard des anges du ciel et des êtres humains aussi voilà pourquoi dieu Jah n' a pas tué Satan, Adam et Eve sur le champs. Cette fois, la façon dont Jéhovah dirige ses créatures était remise en cause une fois pour toute, dieu Jah est notre créateur donc c'est lui seul connaît ce qui nous fera du bien ou du mal surtout pas Satan, il occupe aussi la bonne place pour nous conseiller (diriger) Voici mes adresses mail pour contact anonyme: [email protected], [email protected], s[email protected], [email protected]
Je conseille à tout le monde de lire ces 2 site pour savoir qui est le maître de ce monde d' actuel?, top secret...:
1-http://art-engage.net/Comme-avant.html
2-http://www.syti.net/SilentWeapons.html
[email protected]
"Crains le vrai dieu et garde ses commandements. Car, c' est là toute l' obligation de l' homme" Ecclésiaste 12: 13
Posted by: X X X X X X | 07 July 2008 at 12:32 PM