You know that $15B program for AIDS the President signed yesterday? A portion of it is supposed to go towards "abstinence" education. This pleases the Family Research Council, which is quite happy that fully one-third of all AIDS prevention funds must go to abstinence education. "Simply tossing out condoms and creating the illusion of safe sex does not work. Teaching abstinence...does." Well, no, FRC. Just in time, here's a Johns Hopkins study of Namibian youth which concludes that "common HIV/AIDS prevention terms (e.g. "abstinence" and "faithfulness") are frequently misunderstood." Oh, and for good measure, the Administration does with this what it's done so often; talks lots of money, budgets little. There's $2B in the new budget, not the $3B that was advertised ($15B over five years).
Scientific American has just handed out its third annual Sci/Tech web awards for the top 50 Web resources for information about science and technology. Winners come from ten categories, including archaeology, astronomy, biology, mathematics, and great thinkers.
Here's the best chart I've seen yet illuminating the changes the FCC wants to make on June 2.
Posted by Linkmeister at May 28, 2003 09:28 AMThe FRC likes the program because it has been validated in Uganda. Take a look at this:
http://www.usaid.gov/pop_health/aids/TechAreas/prevention/abc.pdf
Uganda's remarkable success hasn't been trumpeted. Could it be that people who believe condoms, not abstinence, are the solution, don't believe the data?
Peace,
Brian
The truth is abstinance was only a small portion of what is now trumpeted by the far right as the Ugandan model. The abstinance portion was part of much larger sex education program that INCLUDED condom education. In the program passed by congress 33% of the funds are used for abstinence education.
I wrote a bit about the program and how the Bush Administration has failed to really help the problem of AIDS in Africa.
http://laddy.blogspot.com/2003_05_01_laddy_archive.html#105356541366973728
Kombiz
Posted by: Kombiz at May 31, 2003 10:19 PMKombiz, you're absolutely right; Uganda is trotted out as an abstinence model with no mention of that being only one component of the whole program; that fact is inconvenient to the argument.
Posted by: Linkmeister at May 31, 2003 10:41 PM