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o commemorate World AIDS Day, the Health Ministry, in cooperation with the National Commission on HIV/AIDS Prevention and a condom producer, organized a Condom Week, amid protests from religious groups.

Although I do not question the government'€™s motives behind the program, policymakers have to re-examine the facts about the promotion of condom use in the country.

Unsurprisingly, the ministry emphasizes the importance of teaching people at large, including teens, about how to use condoms. Used correctly and consistently, condoms decrease the risk of acquiring sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unwanted pregnancies.

Therefore, the increased availability of condoms coupled with education should lead to declining rates of STIs and unwanted pregnancy among teens.

But what the government has failed to tell the public is that the reality is different. Now that Thailand is very much in the news because of political infighting between those for and against Thaksin Shinawatra'€™s family, it might be enlightening to consider what happened in that economically successful country because of the massive promotion of condom use in the past two decades.

Instead of reducing the incidence of AIDS, Thailand has the highest number of HIV-infected citizens among ASEAN member countries. Despite the extensive promotion of condoms, Thailand has also experienced an increase in STI transmission rates among its youth.

Similarly, in Spain, STIs have increased despite youth condom use rates being among the highest in Europe.

The American College of Pediatricians has recently released some interesting findings of a scientific study that should be an eye-opener for those who promote condoms.

After nearly four decades of contraception-centered sexuality education in schools across the US, with increased availability of condoms and contraception for teens, American adolescents now face '€œa growing three-part epidemic of STIs, teen pregnancy and depression'€.

You may argue that Indonesians are no Americans, Spaniards or Thais, but the fact is that they are the same human beings who naturally have the same sexual behaviors and inclinations to sexual pleasures.

What has happened to Thailand, Spain, the US and many other pro-contraception countries also
demonstrates the validity of the much-criticized statement made by Pope Benedict XVI in his trip to Africa in 2009,  '€œthat condoms actually end up increasing the possibility of an AIDS epidemic in some African countries.'€

In a well-researched article entitled '€œAIDS Prevention in Africa'€, health writer Dale O'€™Leary cites evidence contained in a book entitled Rethinking AIDS Prevention by Edward Green.  

Green went to Africa accepting the conventional wisdom that condoms were the solution for the AIDS epidemic. He soon discovered, however, that massive condom education and distribution programs were not working. On the other hand, a program promoting abstinence before marriage and fidelity within marriage in Uganda was successful. His conclusion has been confirmed by numerous other studies.

These are facts and realities that are hard to argue against. Why have mass condom education and distribution campaigns failed to slow the AIDS epidemic in Africa, while a campaign stressing abstinence before marriage and fidelity in marriage has had positive results?

The answer is found in patterns of behavior. Both approaches require substantial changes in behavior. The difference is that while the decision to practice abstinence and fidelity is made with your clothes on, the decision to use a condom is made with your clothes off, in the heat of passion and often under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

According to a study published in the Journal of AIDS in 2005, men supplied with condoms and properly educated about their use reported a significantly higher number of sexual partners during the six months follow-up period when compared to the six months prior to them joining the study. In other words, they actually increased, rather than decreased, their risk of infection.

We must remind ourselves that condom promotion may actually increase the problem, because condom use campaigns necessarily spread a false sense of security.

The campaigns do not warn prospective users that condoms, even when used every time and correctly, will only reduce the risk of infection but do not entirely prevent the contraction of herpes and human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes cancer and warts. Instead, they paint a picture of fun and freedom.

I agree with the American College of Pediatricians that favors the aggressive forging of family connections throughout childhood and adolescence. I also fully support a campaign by many Indonesian parents stressing the importance of abstinence before marriage and fidelity in marriage in preventing HIV/AIDS, instead of distributing condoms. The Health Ministry should study these other, better options very seriously.

The distribution of condoms by the government may sound like the solution to AIDS, but it undermines the authority of parents, the sanctity of marriage and the strength of the abstinence and fidelity message. Many studies demonstrate that sexual abstinence before marriage and fidelity in marriage is the only way to guarantee optimal sexual and mental health for adolescents.

Parents who promote abstinence and have a history of open communication with their children are likely more successful in delaying the sexual debut of their children. Governments and funders must also look more carefully at the results and only support programs with a proven record of success.
 
The writer is a business consultant and parenting educator living in Jakarta.