Nov 30, 8:42 PM
By DAVID CRARY

NEW YORK (AP) - Criticism of condoms and restrictions on access to them are
undercutting the fight against HIV/AIDS in countries ranging from Nigeria to
Peru to the United States, Human Rights Watch said in a report Tuesday.

Marking World AIDS Day, the New York-based human rights organization
described condoms as the single most effective weapon against sexually
transmitted HIV, but said they are subjected to government-backed
constraints in numerous countries.

In some places, Human Rights Watch said, police confiscate condoms from AIDS
outreach workers and use them as evidence of illegal prostitution or sodomy.

"Governments should be promoting condom use, not treating condoms like
contraband," said Jonathan Cohen, a Human Rights Watch researcher. "The
clear result of restricting access to condoms will be more lives lost to
AIDS."

The U.S. government, although the leading donor to HIV/AIDS-fighting
initiatives, was criticized for its support of "abstinence until marriage"
HIV-prevention programs that often depict condoms as unreliable and withhold
any practical information about their use.

"The Bush Administration is spending millions of dollars on abstinence-only
programs that mislead people at risk of HIV/AIDS about the effectiveness of
condoms," said Rebecca Schleifer, another Human Rights Watch researcher.
"Exporting these programs to countries facing even more serious epidemics
will only make the situation worse."...

Tony Jewell, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services,
said the U.S. government does fund condom distribution through some of its
HIV/AIDS programs, but he defended the philosophy behind other programs
which espouse the abstinence-only approach.

"It's a scientific fact that you will not get a sexually transmitted disease
if you do not have sex," he said.

Human Rights Watch also criticized religious leaders - including officials
at the Vatican - who have publicly linked condoms with promiscuity.

Worldwide, Human Rights Watch said, less than half the people at risk of
sexual transmission of HIV had access to condoms, and even fewer had access
to basic HIV/AIDS education.

Among the countries examined in the report:

_India. Human Rights Watch said some police officers treat supplying condoms
to men who have sex with other men as an act abetting sodomy, which is
outlawed in India. It said police also have used condom possession as
justification for harassing prostitutes.

_Nigeria. The report said advertisements for condoms have been banned in
some cases on grounds that they encourage adultery and premarital sex.

_Peru. Human Rights Watch said the government has decreased funding for
HIV/AIDS prevention and increased barriers to condom access.

In other AIDS Day developments:

_The sex industry's role in spreading AIDS was discussed at a conference in
Islamabad, Pakistan, attended by about 400 aid workers seeking strategies
for fighting the epidemic in the Asia-Pacific region. "Sex work cannot be
abolished. We must recognize these sex workers are human beings, too," said
Khartini Slamah, a delegate from a Malaysian relief group.

_In China, President Hu Jintao shook hands with AIDS patients in a Beijing
hospital, encouraging them to stick with their medical treatment. It was the
second year in a row that top Chinese leaders shook hands and had
face-to-face exchanges with patients on AIDS Day.