AFRO-NETS> Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report - Wed, 2 Jan 2002

[Cecilia Snyder <csnyder@ccmc.org>]

Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report - Wed, 2 Jan 2002
----------------------------------------------

* Washington, D.C., Catholics React to Catholics for a Free Choice Ad
  Campaign Targeting Bishops' 'Ban' on Condoms
* Mbeki Calls on South Africans to Stop Infant Rapes Likely Due to
  HIV 'Virgin' Myth
* Libyan Court Again Delays Verdict in Case of Bulgarian Health Work-
  ers Accused of Deliberately Infecting Children With HIV
* Mbeki's Lack of Definitive Action Against AIDS Proves 'Deadly' for
  South Africa
* Senate Should Approve $1.3B Authorization for International HIV/ 
  AIDS Spending, Los Angeles Times Editorial Says

--
Washington, D.C., Catholics React to Catholics for a Free Choice Ad 
Campaign Targeting Bishops' 'Ban' on Condoms

In response to November's Washington, D.C., launch of Catholics for a 
Free Choice's global ad campaign "accus[ing]" Catholic bishops of 
aiding the spread of HIV by banning condoms, some Washington-area 
Catholics have stated that the campaign's message is "false," saying 
that the Catholic Church is "one of the largest AIDS-related care 
providers in the world," the Washington Times reports (Shaffrey, 
Washington Times, 12/24). The campaign, which features billboards, 
newspaper ads and ads in subways with the slogan "Banning Condoms 
Kills," will also be launched in other cities throughout the United 
States and in countries that have either large Catholic populations 
or high rates of HIV/AIDS infection, such as Mexico, the Philippines, 
Kenya, South Africa, Chile and Zimbabwe (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Re-
port, 11/29). Rev. Thomas Euteneuer, president of Human Life Interna-
tional, a not-for-profit Catholic antiabortion organization, called 
the campaign "defamatory," adding that "the bishops teach; they do 
not ban" (Washington Times, 12/24). In a Times letter to the editor 
in response to the article, Catholics for a Free Choice President 
Frances Kissling called Euteneuer's statement "somewhat surprising." 
Catholic bishops "do" ban condoms, Kissling writes, adding, "All 
100,000 Catholic hospitals worldwide and all 200,000 Catholic schools 
and social service agencies are prohibited by local bishops as well 
as Vatican policy from teaching about or providing condoms to 
HIV/AIDS patients, clients or students" (Kissling, Washington Times, 
12/29). Michael Scott, the Archdiocese of Washington's HIV/AIDS pas-
toral minister, said that the ad campaign "made him sad." The cam-
paign "conditions people with misinformation that hurts," he added 
(Washington Times, 12/24). Kissling writes that Scott should "instead 
be saddened by the unnecessary transmission of HIV/AIDS caused by a 
church that neither educates HIV/AIDS patients about how to save 
lives nor provides them with the means to do so when abstinence is 
not a course they choose to follow or are able to follow." Kissling 
concludes, "We are all human -- even our priests and bishops have 
difficulty following church teaching on abstinence. For such people 
to tell ordinary people in desperate circumstances that they cannot 
use condoms to prevent the spread of a deadly disease is to preach a 
culture of death. Catholics expect more from their bishops, and our 
ad campaign is one way of calling them to accountability" (Washington 
Times, 12/29).


--
Mbeki Calls on South Africans to Stop Infant Rapes Likely Due to HIV 
'Virgin' Myth

South African President Thabo Mbeki on Friday called on the country 
to stop a "wave of rapes" of infants and children, which anti-rape 
organizations say are committed by men who believe that "sex with a 
virgin will cure them" of HIV infection, Reuters reports. During his 
New Year's message, Mbeki said, "We must make sure that indeed we 
break the silence with regard to [rape], that we report the wrongdo-
ers to the police and make sure that the system of justice punishes 
these people appropriately" (Reuters, 12/28). According to official 
police statistics released in November, 31,780 cases of child rape or 
assault were reported between January 2000 and June 2001 (Kaiser 
Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 11/5). Mbeki, who has drawn international 
criticism for his questioning of a link between HIV and AIDS, "made 
only a passing reference" to the virus, asking South Africans to 
"help fight theft and corruption within the public health system," 
Reuters reports (Reuters, 12/28).


--
Libyan Court Again Delays Verdict in Case of Bulgarian Health Workers
Accused of Deliberately Infecting Children With HIV

A Libyan court on Dec. 22 postponed its verdict for a second time in 
the case of six Bulgarian health workers accused of deliberately in-
fecting 393 Libyan children with blood containing HIV, saying that 
the court needed time to "review the files of evidence further," the 
AP/New York Times reports. The three-judge panel was to orginally 
rule on the case in September, but the court postponed the verdict 
until December. The verdict is now scheduled to be released on Feb. 
17. The five nurses and one physician from Bulgaria, along with a 
Palestinian doctor, are charged with intentionally spreading HIV as 
part of a foreign intelligence conspiracy to "undermine Libya's secu-
rity and its role in the Arab world and Africa." Nine Libyans are 
also charged with negligence in connection with the case. The foreign 
health workers, who have been detained in Libya since early 1999, 
have all pled not guilty to the allegations, which could carry the 
death sentence if they are convicted. Vladimir Sheitanov, the lawyer 
for the Bulgarians, told the Bulgarian news agency BTA that the delay 
"creates additional tension and has a bad effect on the health of the 
defendants." However, a spokesperson for the Bulgarian Foreign Minis-
try said that the postponement "is encouraging as it means that as of 
today there is no solid evidence that could warrant the most severe 
sentences," adding that the delay indicates that the court is "con-
sidering all facts seriously and the door remains open for a favor-
able outcome" (AP/New York Times, 12/23). Bulgarian Foreign Minister 
Solomon Passi, who was in Tripoli on the day of the scheduled ver-
dict, said that he is assured of the "independence" of the Libyan 
court system and hopes that the verdict will be "just." He added that 
it is "better to announce a just verdict in this case, instead of a 
speedy verdict which could be against the interests of the accused" 
(Agence France-Presse, 12/22). 


--
Mbeki's Lack of Definitive Action Against AIDS Proves 'Deadly' for 
South Africa

"Denial is always dangerous. But in South Africa, it has proven 
deadly," a Chicago Tribune editorial states. Although 4.7 million 
South Africans are estimated to have HIV, President Thabo Mbeki's 
government "inexplicably keeps denying South Africans the government 
attention, access to drugs and educational programs that offer the 
only real chance of success against" the disease, the editorial con-
tinues. The government recently announced that it will challenge a 
Pretoria High Court order to administer the antiretroviral drug nevi-
rapine to all pregnant women in the public health system, saying that 
the ruling "may infringe on its right to determine and set national 
policy." This challenge is another example of the "haphazard, often 
confusing approach" to HIV/AIDS taken by Mbeki's government, the edi-
torial states. Mbeki's insistence that AIDS drugs are toxic and his 
questioning of the causal link between HIV and AIDS has only "sow[n] 
uncertainty about the disease ... perpetuat[ing] unsafe sex, risky 
behavior, even child rape by men who have been told by traditional 
healers that sex with a virgin cures AIDS," the editorial says. 
"South Africa's plight demands unequivocal leadership -- not denial 
and uncertainty -- about AIDS, rape and cataclysmic problems related 
to those scourges," the editorial concludes, adding that Mbeki is 
"defending the indefensible" (Chicago Tribune, 12/31).


--
Senate Should Approve $1.3B Authorization for International HIV/AIDS 
Spending, Los Angeles Times Editorial Says

Before leaving for the holiday recess, the House passed a $1.3 bil-
lion authorization for international HIV/AIDS spending, a Los Angeles 
Times editorial states, adding that the Senate "should follow suit 
quickly when it returns" this month. HIV/AIDS is a "national security 
problem" that "threatens to devastate economies" and "cripple mili-
tary and police forces," according to a recent House report. The 
money provided by the House, a $625 million increase over last year's 
appropriation, would demonstrate that the United States is "serious 
about fighting the [HIV/AIDS] pandemic," the editorial continues. 
More than half of the funds would go to the Global Fund to Fight 
AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The fund will not only provide treat-
ment to people with HIV/AIDS in developing countries, but will help 
shore up infrastructure and fight other infectious diseases that "al-
low AIDS to sweep through the body like a conquering army," the edi-
torial states. The editorial says that HIV/AIDS education is still 
needed in many developing nations because leaders "continue to deny 
that it's a problem within their borders," as the disease is primar-
ily transmitted through sex. However, if Congress supplies the money 
necessary for the fund to operate, recipient nations will have to 
"face up to the problem," the editorial concludes, adding that 
"[s]tronger countries will have better footing for the fight" (Los 
Angeles Times, 12/28).

--
The Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, 
a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, by National 
Journal Group Inc. © 2001 by National Journal Group Inc. and Kaiser 
Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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