condoms or abstinence?

Apparently, the Health Ministry is not allowed to promote condoms openly, for fear the people will think that they are promoting promiscuity.

Harder to Prevent HIV Spread

KUALA LUMPUR: Preventing the spread of HIV in Malaysia may have hit a snag with the Health Ministry being unable to openly promote the use of condoms.

Health Ministry deputy director of disease control (AIDS/STD) Dr Jalal Halil Khalil said this could lead to prevention programmes being less effective.

“It may slow down the effectiveness of prevention. It is difficult to promote the open usage of condoms,” he said after attending a Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC) International AIDS Memorial Day function.

“The ministry likes to promote it but not openly. We let the NGOs (non-governmental organisations) do the work. It is not to say that we advertise the use of condoms on TV but we use different ways of communicating it or else people will think we are promoting promiscuity.”

As of December 2006, there were 76,000 HIV/AIDS cases in Malaysia with more than 6,000 new cases diagnosed last year.

The main method of HIV transmission in the country is still through the sharing of needles, which accounts for 75% of the cases.

There is, however, an increase of infection through heterosexual relationships where the number of women infected with HIV has increased 10 times from 1.2% in 1990 to 12% in 2005.

Dr Jalal Halil said that while Malaysians were aware of AIDS and how to prevent it from spreading, the knowledge had yet to translate into action.

MAC president Prof Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman said that while the Government wanted to work with NGOs on condom usage, there were still “difficult laws” in which marginalised groups who worked in brothels could be charged under anti-vice laws if they were found with condoms.

She said that when it came to the general public, the question was not only about condoms but that individuals did not realise the high risk of having casual sex.

“When we ask, most people are more conscious about condoms preventing pregnancies rather than HIV.”

Those who oppose condom use are probably the ones who advocate abstinence, claiming that it's 100 % effective. Sure it is, if you can actually stick to your abstinence vow all the way till marriage. How many people can actually do that?A recent study presented at the 2003 annual meeting of the American Psychological Society (APS) found that over 60% of college students who had pledged virginity during their middle or high school years had broken their vow to remain abstinent until marriage.

Uganda managed to bring down its HIV prevalence in the population from 15 % in 1991 to 5 % by 2001. This was mainly due to its ABC slogan of Abstain, Be faithful, use Condoms. Scientists conclude that the biggest impact on reducing HIV rates is from having fewer sexual partners. Other countries like Zambia, Jamaica, Cambodia and Thailand, that promote both abstinence and condom use, have reduced HIV rates.

So, which is better--abstinence or condoms? Of course, abstinence will work all the time. The thing is, can most people actually practice abstinence? Many studies show that people break their abstinence pledges. Of course, perhaps more people can abstain if abstinence-only education is hammered at them consistently from childhood all the way to young adulthood. Yet, how easy is it to practice abstinence in a culture of sex, sex and more sex? Books, songs, movies, newspapers, advertisements all contain sexual images and connotations. How can you hear a voice calling for abstinence in the midst of a million other voices telling you to just go and fuck someone? Only when we change this culture of sex can we plausibly practice abstinence. But, isn't it easier to slip on a condom than to try and change an entire culture?