SAFE SEX?

Condoms may not be as effective as some think

Friday, March 29, 2002

Jacquelyn Mitchard's March 24 column about Secretary of State Colin Powell's "courage" in promoting condoms was well-intentioned but misinformed ("Condom stance shows courage").

A July 20, 2001, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report stated that "epidemiological evidence is currently insufficient to provide an accurate assessment of the effectiveness of condoms in preventing the spread of chlamydial infection, syphilis, chanchroid trichomoniasis, genital herpes and genital human papillomavirus (HPV)."

The reported 85% condom protection rate against HIV/AIDS still leaves 15% of users at risk -- as "safe" as playing Russian roulette with one bullet in a six-chamber pistol.

Sexually transmitted diseases such as chlamydia and HPV are "silent"; many women have no idea they are infected until they have problems conceiving. Tom Coburn, a doctor and former U.S. representative, has stated that because women believed condoms would protect them, "millions of women in our country now suffer from the ravages of diseases, including pelvic cancer infections, infertility and cervical cancer."

The Journal Sentinel does readers a disservice when it allows non- medical personnel to wrongly lead public opinion to believe everything is all right. The STD epidemic is testament to the misinformation about "safe sex."

Contrary to Mitchard's attack upon loving, educated parents who teach their children well, the "moralistic tyranny" is waged by those who would promote unhealthy and destructive lifestyles at any cost.

Robert G. Dwyer West Bend

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