Religious organisations are “closer to the real solution” in advocating fidelity to one partner at a time and delaying sexual debut than the technology promoted by the United Nations, the United States, the World Bank, the European Union and other global leaders, says Dr. Edward C. Green, president and director of the New Paradigm Research Fund
Contraceptive use in Africa may increase the risk of acquiring HIV for both men and women, a new study says.
HIV-negative women who use hormonal contraception injections have nearly twice the risk of contracting HIV, while the HIV-negative male partners of infected women also face an increased risk.
The study, led by University of Washington researchers, was published in The Lancet Infections Diseases journal. It involved 3,800 couples in Botswana, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. In each couple, either the man or the woman was already infected.
The study could mean that the promotion of hormonal contraception in Africa has inadvertently fueled the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
The progestin hormone in injectable contraceptives appears to have a physiological effect. Researchers said it could cause immunological changes in a woman’s genitals or could increase the virus’ ability to replicate.
Oral contraceptives also appeared to increase the risk of infection and transmission, but the number of contraceptive pill users was too small to be statistically significant.
Researchers cautioned that study participants’ contraceptive use was self-reported and the study itself was not designed to examine the contraception issue.
“Basically, neither condoms nor drugs are the solution, especially in Africa, where I have done most of my professional work,” said Dr. Edward C. Green.
The New Paradigm Fund advocates “behavior prevention strategies” such as changing sexual behavior or reinforcing positive behaviors, instead of advocating more condoms, testing or drugs.
It is a “big mistake” for AIDS funding to go to technology-based prevention strategies and to keep that funding from religious organisations, he added.
Most people become infected through having multiple and concurrent sexual partners and by starting sexual intercourse at an earlier age, he explained.
Green expands on his criticisms and recommendations about AIDS prevention in his book “Broken Promises: How the AIDS Establishment Has Betrayed the Developing World.”
Full Article: CNA
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