The barrier performance of latex rubber

A study in permeability and manufacturing flows of latex rubber published by C.M. Roland in The Rubber World:

From a broad assessment of data on HIV transmission rates during heterosexual contact, the use of a condom was estimated to provide only a tenfold reduction rate risk of contagion. This compares, for example, to the 5,000-fold increase in protection level afforded by avoiding coitus with partners from high risk groups

The author concludes:

Latex rubber devices originate as a suspension of particles coated with surfactants intended to prevent the particles from coalescing. The use of such a material for barrier protection for a 100 nanometer virus seems counter-intuitive. Certainly the presence of defects in latex rubber is well established; however, the origin, detailed nature and hence relevance of these flaws to the prophylactic performance of latex rubber is open to question. Channels penetrating the entire thickness of latex gloves have been directly observed, but more evidence of this type is needed. Unfortunately, condom inspection methods currently in use are inadequate for the detection of micron-sized flaws.

Could condom use be the solution?

“It should be noted that condom use cannot provide absolute protection against HIV. The surest way to avoid transmission of HIV is to abstain from sexual intercourse or to be in a long-term mutually monogamous relationship with a partner who has been tested and you know is uninfected.”

says... the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention

In the very editorial criticizing the statements of Benedict XIV, The New York Times ends up by recognizing that he is right. Speaking about condom effectiveness to prevent AIDS, after mentioning the CDC and the Cochrane Collaboration organization, the Times warns: “However, both groups warned that condom use cannot provide absolute protection. (...) The best way to avoid transmission of the virus is to abstain from sexual intercourse or have a long-term mutually monogamous relationship with an uninfected person.”

The New York Times

from "Behind the “Pro-Condom Media Uproar:” The Old Struggle of Rationalism and Secularism against the Church" by Luis Sergio Solimeo

Condom promotion in Africa has been a disaster

A neo-colonialist pro-sexual revolution lobby is behind the attacks against the Pontiff and is being pursued by fringe groups within the United Nations and the European Union

-writes Bernardo Cervellera in the Catholic Online article. He also points to many scientific and empiric studies supporting view that condom promotion brings more promiscuity and increases rate of AIDS and STDs.

Prestigious medical journal distorts FACTS about condoms

The Lancet, a prestigious medical journal ventured into a political/moral arena. It went as far as to distort scientific FACTS to attack the Pope for "distorting scientific data". The Washington Post states that "The Pope Maybe Right":

In 2003, Norman Hearst and Sanny Chen of the University of California conducted a condom effectiveness study for the United Nations' AIDS program and found no evidence of condoms working as a primary HIV-prevention measure in Africa. UNAIDS quietly disowned the study. (The authors eventually managed to publish their findings in the quarterly Studies in Family Planning.) Since then, major articles in other peer-reviewed journals such as the Lancet, Science and BMJ have confirmed that condoms have not worked as a primary intervention in the population-wide epidemics of Africa. In a 2008 article in Science called "Reassessing HIV Prevention" 10 AIDS experts concluded that "consistent condom use has not reached a sufficiently high level, even after many years of widespread and often aggressive promotion, to produce a measurable slowing of new infections in the generalized epidemics of Sub-Saharan Africa."

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WYD08 Receive the Power

World Youth Day Sydney 2008 Final Trailer