[procaare] Condoms Still Out in the Cold at Toronto AIDS Conference

["UNFPA" <procaare@healthnet.org>]

Condoms Still Out in the Cold at Toronto AIDS Conference
UNFPA Press Release: 16 August 2006
****************

"Emerging Prevention Technologies Take Centre Stage, Proven Condom Given 
Short Shrift"

TORONTO, Canada - "Prevention" and "new technologies" are the buzzwords at 
the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, but UNFPA, the United 
Nations Population Fund, is calling attention to the fact that millions of 
people still lack access to the most basic and available preventive method 
of all-the male and female condom.

The Conference, which has attracted 25,000 scientists, activists and 
policymakers from all over the world, marks the first time the international 
community has seized upon prevention as the most cost-effective and 
sustainable response to the global pandemic. Keynote speakers former United 
States President William Clinton and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates both 
emphasized the need for female-controlled methods, such as microbicides to 
halt the virus's spread-particularly among young women and girls who now 
make up the fastest growing proportion of the newly infected. The potential 
of vaccines and male circumcision to slow transmission rates have also 
grabbed the lion's share of attention.

Steve Kraus, Chief of the HIV Branch of UNFPA, asserts that, while 
discussions around new prevention technologies represent an important step 
in the evolution of the global HIV response, all of them are still years 
away from becoming widely available.

"People are getting infected now," he says. "While we applaud discussion and 
research into new technologies, we are still not using what we have 
available today. The condom already exists and it hasn't been delivered. It 
works and represents the best tool we have in the fight against HIV/AIDS," 
says Dr. Kraus.

Today, an estimated 8 to 10 billion condoms are being used in low-and 
middle-income countries. This represents only half of the total need. In 
sub-Saharan Africa, where HIV prevalence is highest, African males have 
access to only 10 condoms on average-per year. While female condom 
distribution is increasing, the total market share remains woefully low-at 
only 0.3 per cent-despite rising demand in high-prevalence settings such as 
Zimbabwe and Malawi.

To meet increased demand, UNAIDS estimates, resources will have to double 
from about $320 million a year today to between $500 million and $630 
million by 2015.
***

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is an international development 
agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life 
of health and equal opportunity. UNFPA supports countries in using 
population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure 
that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is 
free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and 
respect.

Online: UNFPA: http://www.unfpa.org/news/news.cfm?ID=842