AIDS Prevention: What Works

Nineveh

Nineveh

Merely Christian
A senior research scientist from Harvard says abstinence and faithfulness are more effective than condoms to stop the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Dr. Edward Green of the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies is the author of Rethinking AIDS Prevention (Praeger, 2003). He says he wrote the book after the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) dismissed his study of effective AIDS prevention program, and instead hired another researcher, one who favored condoms, to conduct another investigation.

According to Green, officials with USAID and the United Nations have continued to contend that promoting abstinence simply is not practical. He disagrees, however. "It's hard to argue with success," the doctor says. "If you look at the countries in Africa that have the highest levels of condom use -- countries like Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya -- these are not countries with lower HIV infection rates. These are countries, unfortunately, with higher infection rates. So what all these experts are saying, that [promoting condoms] is the only practical thing -- first of all, it's not working."

On the other hand, Uganda has become to many the "poster-child" nation for what has been called the ABC approach -- an AIDS prevention program that emphasizes encouraging people to "Abstain" from sexual activity, "Be faithful" in marriage or a monogamous relationship, or if one chooses to do neither A nor B, use Condoms.

Green says Uganda has been a success story for initiatives that stress abstinence and faithfulness in particular, largely because the churches in the country have helped to promote them. "The faith-based organizations, whether Christian or Muslim, were mobilized in countries like Uganda and Senegal and Jamaica," the researcher says, "so church leaders and religious groups played a big role in targeting those behaviors -- fidelity and abstinence."

As a result, the Harvard scientist says churches in Uganda and around the world are having a significant impact on the containment of HIV and AIDS. Nevertheless, he notes, many global groups that promote condom use consider churches and other faith-based groups to be obstacles to the fight against AIDS and HIV infection, and tend to frown on anyone who supports the efficacy of their abstinence- and character-based approaches.

In fact, Green notes, the U.S. Agency for International Development refused to accept his documented evidence that abstinence and faithfulness work to curb HIV, instead choosing to bring in another researcher -- one predisposed to favor condoms-based prevention -- to conduct another study.

Nearly two years ago, Green testified before the U.S. Senate's African Subcommittee about the effectiveness of Uganda's ABC approach. He observed that, in little more than a decade, it had helped bring about a steep decline in the African nation's HIV/AIDS infection rates: they had dropped from 21 percent to 6 percent since 1991.

In his 2003 Senate testimony, Green noted, "Many of us in the AIDS and public health communities didn't believe abstinence and faithfulness were realistic goals. It now seems we were wrong."cite
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LivingDeadDoll

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Wow, to think it took a bunch of research in order to come to the conclusion that if you don't sleep around you won't get a disease.
 
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cattyfan

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It took a study to determine the best way not to spead a sexual disease to abstinence and monogamy, and that following the Word of God is an enormous component in the foundation for this positive behavior.

wow. that Harvard guy is just brilliant...wonder how many of our tax dollars paid for him to reach that stunning conclusion.
 
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aikido7

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Unless science can definitively prove the AIDs virus is spread by sexual contact only, how about lifetime celibacy?






I'm not trying to be an ignorant fundamentalist at all... I just think we need to be absolutely sure of things!
 
Nineveh

Nineveh

Merely Christian
Originally posted by aikido7
Unless science can definitively prove the AIDs virus is spread by sexual contact only, how about lifetime celibacy?

I'm not trying to be an ignorant fundamentalist at all... I just think we need to be absolutely sure of things!
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So much for lamenting how much has been spent to point out the obvious....

How much more would it take to convince "those who will not see"?
 
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LivingDeadDoll

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Originally posted by aikido7

Unless science can definitively prove the AIDs virus is spread by sexual contact only, how about lifetime celibacy?






I'm not trying to be an ignorant fundamentalist at all... I just think we need to be absolutely sure of things!
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So their claims that it is spread in ways other than sexual contact has not been backed up with proof?
 
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cattyfan

Guest
Originally posted by aikido7

Unless science can definitively prove the AIDs virus is spread by sexual contact only, how about lifetime celibacy?






I'm not trying to be an ignorant fundamentalist at all... I just think we need to be absolutely sure of things!
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we know there are other ways to spread AIDS....needle sharing and blood contact. Not participating in risky behaviors dramatically reduces the risk of contracting a deadly disease.

Don't sleep around...don't share needles...do everything possible to avoid blood contact with people you don't know or people who may be infected.

When all is said and done, abstinence, monogamy, and following the Word of God are enormous components in the foundation for positive behavior.

And I didn't need a fancy-*** government grant to locate my obvious answer.


Are you gonna come back now with some other stupid comment or are you gonna try facing truth for a change? When all is said and done, abstinence, monogamy, and following the Word of God are enormous components in the foundation for positive behavior.
 
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aikido7

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So their claims that it is spread in ways other than sexual contact has not been backed up with proof?
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I see what you mean. Let me amend what I said.

Don't get injections of ANY kind, refuse blood products and don't have sex with ANYONE. And since we don't know for certain--SCIENTIFICALLY ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN-- that masturbation can possibly, even remotely, spread AIDs,

stop.









And which "word of God" from which verse and out of which translation are you taking out of context?
 
Nineveh

Nineveh

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aikido...

How about posting at TOL? That might too... so maybe you should stop... just to be on the safe side :)
 
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aikido7

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Be careful now....

"Facing scientific truth" might just involve accepting evolution and believing the planet is a mite older than 12,000 years.










Only evil viruses like AIDs evolve into mutated strains. Good viruses are magically created by Intelligent Design!
 
Nineveh

Nineveh

Merely Christian
Originally posted by aikido7

Be careful now....

"Facing scientific truth" might just involve accepting evolution and believing the planet is a mite older than 12,000 years.
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Look, the scientist is saying "ABC" works. But as long as you keep thinking folks are animals... AIDS will spread. The UN has been trying their approach for how long? Here's a secret: it's ain't working.

]Only evil viruses like AIDs evolve into mutated strains. Good viruses are magically created by Intelligent Design!
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God said sex was for marriage. How do we eliminate AIDS, scientifically speaking? Rule #1 is Abstinence. Rule #2 Be faithful. Hmmm just like God said. Since He made it all, just maybe, He is the One Who really does know what's best.
 
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LivingDeadDoll

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Originally posted by Nineveh

Look, the scientist is saying "ABC" works. But as long as you keep thinking folks are animals... AIDS will spread. The UN has been trying their approach for how long? Here's a secret: it's ain't working.



God said sex was for marriage. How do we eliminate AIDS, scientifically speaking? Rule #1 is Abstinence. Rule #2 Be faithful. Hmmm just like God said. Since He made it all, just maybe, He is the One Who really does know what's best.
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Even though you might not like the fact...i agree.
 
firechyld

firechyld

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On the other hand, Uganda has become to many the "poster-child" nation for what has been called the ABC approach -- an AIDS prevention program that emphasizes encouraging people to "Abstain" from sexual activity, "Be faithful" in marriage or a monogamous relationship, or if one chooses to do neither A nor B, use Condoms.
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Sounds like good advice to me. It gives options, and acknowledges that neither of those options is the be all and end all.

Of course, I'd throw "have everyone get tested for HIV/AIDS" in there as well, but I guess it doesn't fit with the witty acronym.
 
Mr. 5020

Mr. 5020

New member
Originally posted by billwald

AIDS is 100% avoidable if one isn't born with it.
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Wow, that definitely flowed with the thread there.

Might as well have just typed...

PEANUTS​
 
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LivingDeadDoll

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Originally posted by Mr. 5020

That's good.
MJ can make us do weird things.
Apparently you weren't that close.
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Now, now, let's not be an "aidsaphobic" . It is by no means wierd to live with someone with AIDS. And while I do not have AIDS, and this was a very long time ago, we were closer enough. That might have sounded odd, but anyway, I can say that AIDS is not as easily transmittable as one might think.
 
firechyld

firechyld

New member
There is some speculation that some people are genetically predisposed to contract HIV/AIDS more easily than others, and that there is also a genetic component to how quickly the disease progressed. But that certainly doesn't mean that a person without those predispositions is "safe" from infection. To imply otherwise is dangerous... and if anyone contracted the illness because they listened to that advice of yours, I'd consider you to be at the very least an accessory to their death.
 
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