Monday, July 16, 2012

'Not good science': Pell's AIDS-condom link

'Not good science': Pell's AIDS-condom link

'Doesn't know what he's talking about': Cardinal George Pell.

'Doesn't know what he's talking about': Cardinal George Pell. (ABC TV)

Doctors have responded angrily to comments by Sydney's Catholic Archbishop that condoms have aggravated the spread of AIDS.

In an interview yesterday, Cardinal George Pell said condoms encouraged promiscuity and the only way of tackling AIDS is by teaching abstinence and fidelity.

He was responding to similar statements by Pope Benedict in March, which sparked controversy around the globe.

The president of the Australasian Society for HIV medicine, Doctor Jonathan Anderson, says there is no scientific basis to support the statements.

"These comments are potentially damaging in that while most people will ignore them as being the pronouncements of a man who really doesn't know what he's talking about, there could be a few people who'd say 'well if the Pope and George Pell tell me it's okay not to use condoms then I'm going to continue not to use condoms'," he said.

"We know that HIV gets transmitted in those circumstances."

The Catholic Church suggests that lower HIV rates in Catholic countries are evidence that condoms are ineffective.

But Dr Anderson says Catholic countries do not necessarily have a lower rate of infection.

"There are many countries around the world that have a very high number of Catholics, like Brazil and Spain, and also unfortunately have high rates of HIV," he said.

"So I think he's picking his countries and claiming it's due to high rates of Catholicism and I think that's not necessarily very good science."

He says condoms do not promote promiscuity.

"It's very normal for people to want to have sex and there's no evidence that programs that promote abstinence are effective in preventing HIV or sexually transmitted infections," he said.

"The converse is there's no evidence that the provision of condoms and other forms of family planning do anything to promote promiscuity."

No comments:

Post a Comment