Health systems
Access to condoms and HIV/AIDS information: a global health and human rights concern
Call to end restrictions on condoms and censorship of HIV information
Authors:
; Human Rights Watch (HRW)
Publisher:
Human Rights Watch , 2004
This Human Rights Watch briefing paper documents censorship of information, myths and restrictions on condoms in a number of countries. While condoms remain the single most effective device against sexually-transmitted HIV, they face government-imposed constraints in numerous countries worldwide. This brief outlines the United States’ (US) "War on Condoms", and religious opposition. It then provides examples of country restrictions on condoms and HIV/AIDS information in India, Nigeria, Peru, Brazil and the United States
The report outlines how, in the US, government-funded “abstinence only” programmes censor science-based information about condoms and suggest that heterosexual marriage is the only reliable strategy for prevention of sexually transmitted HIV, despite evidence to the contrary. Moreover, governments in many countries bow to pressure from religious leaders to censor information about condoms in school-based or other HIV-prevention programmes. The report argues that while abstinence and fidelity may work in some cases, promoting this behaviour at the expense of condoms deprives people of complete information and services. It recommends that governments and donors should immediately lift restrictions on access to condoms and take concrete steps to guarantee comprehensive and science-based HIV-prevention services to all those who need them. [adapted from author]
