WHY AN AIDS VACCINE IS COMING

By Cliff Kincaid

www.protectmedicalfreedom.com

The release of a United Nations report on AIDS and the holding of an international AIDS conference have led to a series of stories about the disease and what to do about it. Research indicates that the world is headed for 65 million deaths as a result of the epidemic by the year 2020. Typically, the liberal media solution is condoms and drugs. They avoid talking about abstinence. And they certainly don’t want to talk about the dangerous sexual practices in Africa that are spreading the disease. That would be culturally insensitive.  

          One of the few articles about the problem appeared in USA Today back on September 15, 1999. Steve Sternberg described the odious traditions that facilitate the transmission of AIDS. Quoting the manager of an AIDS service organization in Uganda, Sternberg reported, “Here, the groom's father can have sex with the bride, and that's accepted. Here, other clan members may have sex with someone's wife, and no one says anything." Another problem in Uganda: prostitution. Truckers with HIV regularly pay for sex with women who need the money to feed themselves or their families. The women infect their boyfriends and husbands, who infect their wives and girlfriends.

          In a story back on page 14 on July 5^th, the Wall Street Journal noted evidence that the rate of HIV infections is starting to slow in Uganda. The Journal said Uganda’s anti-AIDS program “encourages people to limit the number of sexual partners and otherwise change high-risk sexual behavior.” In fact, Uganda is advocating abstinence above every other measure. The nation's First Lady, Janet Museveni,  says the government is emphasizing a return to "time-tested cultural practices which emphasized fidelity and condemnation of pre-marital and extra-marital sex." She says, "Young people must be taught the virtues of abstinence, self-control and postponement of pleasure and sometimes sacrifice." She says teaching them a different lifestyle "will ensure their survival.”

During an appearance in Washington, she specifically derided condoms as a long-term solution: "Teaching people to use condoms is, at best, only a short-term solution. What works is a change of behavior. Marriage is being used in all sorts of incorrect ways, and our children are watching us. We have to set an example for the young by instilling the virtues of self-control, faithfulness and honesty in relationships. The young represent our chance to survive. We must not fail them."

She added, "We never really talk about our ethics, our morals, but I feel very strongly that this is the only answer. Ours is a spiritually illiterate generation. The whole problem is tied in with the breakdown of morals in the world.” She warned that talk about new drugs to treat AIDS and condoms to prevent the disease “make AIDS sound less dangerous" and could actually worsen the problem. 

In an editorial, “The Epidemic Advances,” the Washington Post noted that Uganda has been making progress in fighting the disease. But the liberal paper failed to acknowledge that the message of traditional moral values is working.  It would rather talk about drugs and condoms and an AIDS vaccine.