Media

For Immediate Release:
October 7, 2004

Contact: Adrienne Verrilli
at: 212-819-9770 x325

Bush Administration Exporting Unproven Abstinence-Until-Marriage Programs Under the Guise of HIV Prevention

New York, NY - As part of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the Bush Administration has announced $100 million in grants to 11 organizations to implement abstinence-until-marriage programs overseas. Like the unproven abstinence-only-until-marriage programs supported by the Administration in the U.S., these programs will promote marriage as the primary method of preventing the transmission of HIV.

"Marriage alone does not prevent the transmission of HIV. In fact, for women in many of the countries suffering most under the HIV/AIDS pandemic, marriage is actually a risk factor," said William Smith, director of public policy at the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S. (SIECUS). "Abstinence-only-until-marriage programs not only fail to take into account the economic, social, and cultural context of other nations, but also have failed to be proven effective even in the U.S. This latest move is just one more example of the Bush Administration exporting its conservative ideology at the expense of sound public health policy," Smith charged.

Since the start of the AIDS pandemic, it has been widely acknowledged that a comprehensive approach, including abstinence, condom use, training in negotiation skills, and a complete range of medically accurate information about sexuality, is necessary to prevent the spread of HIV. For sexually active people, condom use remains the best existing defense against the spread of HIV. Prevention efforts across the globe have sought to teach proper condom use, encourage consistent use, and make condoms widely available.

The Bush Administration, however, has waged a systematic campaign undermining a more comprehensive approach, specifically disparaging condom use. Since 1998, the federal government has spent more than a half-billion dollars on abstinence-only-until-marriage programs that are prohibited from discussing condom use with the exception of their failure rates. Now, a multi-million dollar funding stream, dressed-up as an HIV-prevention strategy, has been created through the PEPFAR initiative to fund similar programs in 15 countries in African and the Caribbean as well as in Vietnam.

"HIV/AIDS is a global crisis that requires bold leadership based on sound science and respect for human rights," Smith said. "With so many resources at its disposal, the U.S. government support for comprehensive, science-based HIV/AIDS prevention programs is critical. Insisting on this narrow prevention strategy puts lives at risk," continued Smith.

# # #