No such thing as ‘safe sex’ with condom

THE EDITOR: What redress do we as a people have against those who continue to sponsor the lie to our young people? The lie is “safe sex.” No one can guarantee that we are protected from deadly viruses using condoms. Not ASPIRE, not Family Planning Assoc of TT, not PAHO, not WHO, no one. There is no such thing as safe sex except in a fully committed relationship like in a marriage. A monogamous relationship. I challenge anyone to call me a liar when I state that “Condoms fail!” Just tell the people that they are still taking chances with the condom and can contract a deadly virus. Condom distributors advise that to maintain the quality of condoms they need to be kept at a certain cool, controlled temperature. Many men keep their condoms in their wallets, or in the glove compartments of their cars. The heat breaks down the quality of the latex. This can cause them to burst, become more porous and even more unreliable. With all the free distribution, who is warning the users of its failure to protect 100 percent from HIV/AIDS? Oh yes, it’s in the small writing on the inside of the package. Who’s reading the small writing?!!

ASPIRE seem proud that their greatest contribution to the problems of out society is enthusing our youth to give out condoms. Have free sex, have more sex, you can’t say no, so have sex, get depressed when you’re dumped, but “Hey, hoped you used a condom!” they’ll say. You might not have contracted a deadly virus along with the low self-esteem, broken heart, loneliness, depression etc. Why are we giving half truths? It is reported by the National Institutes of Health in America that consistent condom use decreases the risk of transmission of HIV/AIDS by about 85 percent. Are you willing to play Russian roulette and be in the 15 percent of persons that get HIV/AIDS? Why doesn’t ASPIRE come out and say that having sex is risky business and that there is no known mechanism for avoiding sexually transmitted diseases other than abstinence. Failure to protect 15 percent of the time is one thing but what about the case where condoms cannot protect at all against a deadly common virus? There is a number one killer of women in the USA that no one is telling us about. (Could it be simply because it won’t sell condoms?). It is The Human Papilloma virus (venereal warts), a  sexually transmitted disease (STD) that is spread by genital contact. You don’t even have to have intercourse, just genital contact! That’s why condoms don’t protect you from this virus. Human Papilloma virus is the No1 STD in the world and it is not prevented by condom use. It is linked as a cause of cervical cancer in 99.7 percent of all cervical cancer cases worldwide. More women die of cervical cancer caused by HPV in the USA than HIV/AIDS!!

Who is responsible for telling the people?!!! Where is my redress for the lies that are being propagated? Who is responsible when someone’s 16-year-old daughter is given a free condom and she contracts HIV/AIDS? Who’s responsible?! The Minister of Health knows the truth! The Minister of Education knows the truth! The Prime Minister knows the truth! The President of the Cancer Society of TT knows the truth! The AIDS enthusiasts know better! A leading AIDS researcher knows the truth. Dr Courtney Bartholomew warns that condoms do fail to protect 100 percent from AIDS. We still can get AIDS and other deadly viruses using a condom! Uganda has been brave enough to stop being lied to about the condom and have a nationwide abstinence programme that causes them to be the only African nation where a decline of AIDS has been recorded. All other programmes worldwide that rely heavily on condoms have all recorded consistent increases of the HIV/AID. Who’s responsible? Where is my redress?

JACQUELINE ALLAMANI
Petit Valley