Kampala, Uganda, Apr 1, 2009 / 12:48 pm
Each day more scientists, researchers and doctors are voicing their support for Pope Benedict XVI’s statement that condoms are not decreasing the spread of AIDS in Africa. Dr. Filippo Ciantia, a Ugandan doctor who specializes in tropical medicine, told CNA that, “In every African country where there has been HIV prevalence decline, this has been preceded by decline in casual and multi-partner sex.”
Ciantia worked in Northern Uganda from 1980-1989, the critical years where an unidentified virus, now known to be AIDS, began to spread. He described in a 2006 paper, “The Victory of Reason,” what he had documented.
“I began to notice some young adults … [who] were severely wasted, with chronic diarrhea, skin rashes and fever. Others were affected by disseminated tuberculosis. I still recall that I hardly believed the results of the biopsy…we were faced with a new disease.” The name given to this disease in Uganda was “Slim Disease,” but after it was identified as HIV/AIDS, Dr. Ciantia related that “it was clear that there was no cure.”
The Ugandan Government eventually realized that this new deadly disease could quickly “wipe away our country,” he recalled. In order to prevent its spread early on, the government produced the booklet, “Guidelines on Control of AIDS,” which stressed the need for behavioral change instead of marketing condoms.