From IRC...

[denny]

<Magnus> so apparently catholic priests are telling africans that condoms have tiny holes to allow HIV through
<Magnus> which reminded me that some african president was telling africans that you can cure yourself of AIDS by having sex with a virgin
<Magnus> clearly the solution is simple
<Magnus> we tell Africans that you can cure yourself of AIDS by bumraping a catholic priest

Comments

[fellcat.livejournal.com]

I really shouldn't be laughing at that. Oh well.

[zillahgoth.livejournal.com]

Sorted! Well said me son.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_the_pixie_/]

Superb :)

[fellcat.livejournal.com]

Ok, so condoms aren't perfect and HIV does sometimes get through, but in a society that is unlikely to accept abstinence − which I believe is what the Catholics are preaching out there as they do everywhere else − as a means of preventing HIV spread, condom usage is a shedload better than unprotected sex.

You understand this; I understand this; why don't the Catholics understand this?

[hamsterine.livejournal.com]

genius

[pooloftrees.livejournal.com]

They are following the Vatican line... Which is a completely stupid IMHO: Desire, lust, love and sex are all completely natural.

I saw the program where this matter was argued about on the BBC (Link (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3176982.stm)). Basically, provided that the condom is not damaged, the HIV virus is too large to pass through a condom.

Condoms: Barriers to Bad News (http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/1998/298_con.html) - U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Quote:
"Of the 123 couples who consistently used condoms, none of the HIV-free partners became infected during the study, whereas 12 of the 122 partners who didn't consistently use condoms became infected."

From the Center for Disease Control (http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pubs/facts/condoms.htm) (US):
In fact, the ability of latex condoms to prevent transmission of HIV has been scientifically established in “real-life” studies of sexually active couples as well as in laboratory studies.

This appears to be contradicted here (http://dianedew.com/condom.htm), however, the author appears to be be strongly religious and may be looking at this from a biased viewpoint.

There is slightly more science in this (http://www.abortionfacts.com/literature/literature_9331cd.asp) article, although several "facts" are stated without source, they do raise a worrying point about the transportation of condoms. However, as with the previous article above, this site is also pro-life which seems to go hand in hand with not only anti-abortion, but also anti-contraception and suggests abstinence until marriage, which in modern society no longer works.

I think that the best way to look at this is risk management: if you have an HIV infected partner you need to take as many steps as possible to minimise the risk. Condoms are a well proven risk reducer - although any contact involving body fluids, even when carefully managed in this way, is still a risk...