Ugandan president calls church to back condom
use
 Ugandan
President Yoweri Museveni has called on the Catholic Church to
drop its opposition to the use of condoms as they are one of the
primary ways of fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS.
"If the church is really interested in having its followers
live, it should back the use of condoms to save church members
from AIDS," Museveni said on Saturday when he closed a conference
of Catholic bishops from 10 sub-Sahara African countries according
to a report from Reuters.
He said, "This is not to support immorality, but to recognise
the weakness of those we live with and help them to live a healthy
life."
The 10-day congress debated the impact of HIV/AIDS in sub-Sahara
Africa, the world's worst affected region, where an estimated
25.4 million people are living with the disease.
Museveni's comments came in the wake of criticism by human rights
groups, who maintained that his government was abandoning condoms
as a means to fight HIV/AIDS in favour of "abstinence only"
programmes.
Museveni said the church also should instil morals in the region's
youth, as this would mitigate the spread of HIV.
In their final message, the bishops commended efforts to control
the HIV/AIDS pandemic, specifically the work of governments and
other institutions that encourage abstinence and fidelity.
"We are greatly alarmed by the magnitude of HIV/AIDS, its
origin, causes, spread and consequences," the assembly added.
Uganda has won accolades for its fight against the pandemic,
which has brought HIV prevalence rates down from over 20 percent
in the 1980s to about six percent in 2004. The country has used
a strategy popularly known as "ABC", or "Abstinence,
Be faithful and use Condoms", to fight the disease.
SOURCE
UGANDA:
Back condom use, Museveni urges Catholic leaders (Reuters
15/6/05)
LINKS (not necessarily endorsed by Church
Resources)
Association of Member
Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa
ARCHIVE
Archbishop OKs condoms for HIV
couples (CathNews 14/4/05)
Papal theologian weighs condom
use against AIDS (CathNews 2/2/05)
Cardinal says condoms ban due to
implied sexual immorality (CathNews 25/1/05)
Pope calls attention to AIDS in
developing world (CathNews 24/1/05)
Priest says AIDS fight must tackle
'sex object' culture (CathNews 31/12/04)
Church in Africa continues AIDS
fight without condoms (CathNews 10/10/03)
Catholic bishops back government
AIDS plan (CathNews 14/8/03)
Kenyan archbishop warns condoms
will not prevent AIDS (CathNews 5/8/03)
MORE STORIES
Federal study confirms
abstinence education effective (Catholic World News 15/6/05)
16 Jun 2005
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