The Politics of Condoms  

• Donors are not supplying the developing world with enough commodities for reproductive health care, including condoms for HIV prevention. Yet half the world’s population lives on $2 per day or less, and the least-developed countries must rely almost completely on foreign aid for these essential supplies and services.

• A handful of donors account for almost all support for essential reproductive health supplies, and even this is erratic. Long-term commitments are needed, along with development of local capacity for production.1

• Political and religious leaders sometimes speak out against condoms for “moral” reasons, even in cultures where women and girls are allowed little or no say over their sexual or reproductive lives, or where girls are married off at very young ages.2

• The Vatican specifically prohibits condom use for its followers, often using flawed scientific claims suggesting falsely that condoms do not block HIV transmission.3

• The Bush administration restricts about a third of its HIV/AIDS-prevention funding to abstinence-only promotion programs.

1 UNFPA 2001: Donor Support for Contraceptives and Logistics.

2 2004 Human Rights Watch: Press Release, Condom Restrictions Cost Lives.

3 2004 Human Rights Watch: Press Release, Condom Restrictions Cost Lives.

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