Why Condoms Aren't Africa's AIDS Solution

I get so tired of "bullet point" journalism from the mainstream, such as their coverage of Pope Benedict XVI's current African pilgrimage. So far the media coverage amounts to about one sentence: "... and the pope, in Africa, has condemned the distribution and use of condoms to fight AIDS."

Pope Benedict had much more to say, and if you see the context, you can understand his point.

“I would say that this problem of AIDS cannot be overcome with advertising slogans. If the soul is lacking, if Africans do not help one another, the scourge cannot be resolved by distributing condoms; quite the contrary, we risk worsening the problem. The solution can only come through a twofold commitment: firstly, the humanization of sexuality, in other words a spiritual and human renewal bringing a new way of behaving towards one another; and secondly, true friendship, above all with those who are suffering, a readiness - even through personal sacrifice - to be present with those who suffer. And these are the factors that help and bring visible progress.

“Therefore, I would say that our double effort is to renew the human person internally, to give spiritual and human strength to a way of behaving that is just towards our own body and the other person’s body; and this capacity of suffering with those who suffer, to remain present in trying situations."

But perhaps the language is too complex for simplistic reporters, so let's see if I can put this into simpler terms.

Teaching people to use condoms implies that no other part of their behavior or outlook should change. So you still have men seeking multiple sex partners, and women accepting this behavior because it is part of the traditional culture of Africa. Given that no condom is 100 percent effective in blocking either HIV transmission or pregnancy -- failure rates of even 5 percent are not uncommon -- you may well make the problem worse as people assume they are safe.

When you teach abstinence and fidelity, or at the very least, personal responsibility so that those who are infected adopt a moral code that says "I refuse to infect anyone else," then you begin to change the culture. If the culture is not changed, the culture will die.

I fear the dirty little secret of many "western" reporters is that they don't mind if Africa dies. That is why there is relatively little outcry about the various civil wars and insurrections that take place there. That is why millions were massacred in Rwanda in the early 1990s, and the West stood by and watched. That is why Darfur gets the least amount of real attention possible. Let's face it: most Americans profess to care but would rather ship over a crate of condoms and declare that they've done their part.

I'm glad the Catholic Church, which is experiencing rapid growth in much of that continent, has a strong presence there.