Why the Pope may be right

Douglas Kamerow, chief scientist at the RTI International, one of the world's leading research institutes, asserts that 'ABC' (abstain, be faithful, condom use) in Uganda probably owed most of its effectiveness to greater use of condoms.

This is contradicted in several other scientific studies. In one of them, the government clearly communicated that AIDS was fatal and required immediate population responses based on faithfulness to one partner, condoms being a minor component of its strategy.

Indeed, in an interview with Ilsussidiario.net, Edward Green, director of the AIDS Prevention Research Project at Harvard, agreed with the Pope: "The best evidence we have shows that condoms do not work as an intervention intended to reduce HIV infection rates in Africa ... What we see in fact is an association between greater condom use and higher infection rates ... We are seeing HIV decline in at least eight or nine countries in Africa".

Proper condom use can decrease the incidence of disease including HIV/AIDS but it is not the solution, it is only part of the strategy 'ABC'. The 'C' cannot be without the 'A' and the 'B' for maximum effectiveness. I am writing about scientific empirical data not matters of faith. Nor am I defending the Pope.