SOUTH AFRICA: Health minister to meet church on AIDS and condoms

JOHANNESBURG, 3 Feb 2005 (PLUSNEWS) - South African Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang is to meet with religious leaders later this month to discuss various issues, including HIV/AIDS and the Church's opposition to condoms.

The Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) recently criticised South Africa for encouraging condom use in its prevention campaigns, arguing that they promoted promiscuity rather than helping to curb the spread of HIV.

Citing abstinence as the best method of preventing HIV, SACBC president Cardinal Wilfred Napier said promiscuity was more damaging than HIV/AIDS.

The South African Press Association quoted Napier as saying: "If we look at the one example of success we have, which is Uganda, then there is a clear message that it was a return to moral values that has halted the disease. Where condoms have been promoted, we have not seen the effect we've seen in Uganda."

[ENDS]